Keonjhar: Scores of farmers of Mahadeijoda panchayat under this block Monday dumped quintals of tomatoes on the highway near the collectorate over distress sale of the produce, a report said.
Distressed over the miserable market condition, the farmers are under tremendous pressure to clear their loans which they had taken for tomato cultivation.
They submitted a memorandum to the additional district magistrate (ADM) seeking a solution to their problem, it was learnt.
Meanwhile, tonnes of tomatoes are left to rot in the agriculture fields as the market price of the produce is less than the cost of collection.
“In the absence of a cold storage, it is better not to harvest the crop which would add to our losses,” a farmer said.
“One has to pay Rs 10 as wage for collection of a tray (20 kilogram) of tomatoes whereas the selling price of the same is something between Rs 10 and Rs 20. So there is no sense in collecting the produce,” said another farmer Sarat Mohanty.
According to reports, farmers in the district have registered bumper harvest this season due to favourable climatic condition.
Earlier, traders from Sambalpur, Khurda and Rourkela used to collect tomatoes from this region but they didn’t turn up this year.
Moreover, the local market was flooded with tomatoes from other areas. Besides, there was a drastic fall in the price with sharp decline in demand.
Still, the produce could have been preserved for another month had there been cold storage facility in the area. In that possibility, farmers had a chance to compensate their losses, the agitators said.
On the other hand, the surplus production can be processed and sold as the demand for tomato sauce is increasing by the day.
However, the administration is least concerned about the Bilati Orissa Limited, a tomato processing unit, which has been lying defunct for the last three years, the agitating farmers alleged.
Earlier, the unit used to sell tomato paste to sauce manufacturing companies, thereby bailing out the farmers having surplus production.
When contacted, a local horticulture officer shifted the responsibility on the farmers.
“Some major farmers or self help groups can set up such units as they need to invest some thing around
Rs 2 lakh for the purpose,” said deputy director of the department Ranjan Dasmohapatra.
On the issue of distress sale of tomatoes, ADM Sangram Keshari Swain said the horticulture department has been asked to probe the matter. Measures would be taken on the basis of the probe report, he added.
Failing to sell their produce, a farmer’s family had committed suicide in 2013 which had sent shockwaves across the district.
The administration, at that time, swung into action and took measures to procure tomatoes from farmers.
The government should take similar measures this time to prevent the recurrence of such a tragic incident, said a farmer Dambarudhar Behera. PNN
