Tomatoes are rotting in the fields of Mirsarai and Sitakunda in Chattogram because farmers cannot get a price. Wholesale, tomatoes are selling for Tk 3-5 a kg, so farmers cannot recover their production costs and are not harvesting. They say the tomatoes would not be rotting like this if the two upazilas had cold storage.

According to the agriculture office, in the 2024-2025 fiscal year tomatoes were grown on 130 hectares across Mirsarai's 16 unions and two municipalities. The office gives the output from those 130 hectares as 5,330 hectares [sic], with a market value of about Tk 8 crore.

The Sitakunda upazila agriculture department said tomatoes were grown on 580 hectares there this season, against a production target of 14,185 tonnes. Favourable temperatures brought a good yield, but farmers are frustrated at not getting a good price.

Mohammad Ali, a farmer from Guliakhali village in Muradpur union of Sitakunda, grew tomatoes on three and a half acres at a cost of Tk 12 lakh, but has so far sold only Tk 4 lakh worth. Meanwhile prices have tumbled, to the point where selling does not even cover the cost of picking the tomatoes and bringing them to market. He has lost interest in harvesting and fears a large loss. The situation is the same across the whole upazila, not just in Guliakhali.

Farmers Md Kasem, Nur Nobi and many others are not picking their tomatoes because the cost will not be recovered. "Picking needs hired labour, and the tomatoes have to go to market on a pickup or van," they said. "If picking and transport cost Tk 800 or 1,000, the tomatoes sell there for Tk 500 to 600. So we have stopped picking. And with no cold store we cannot keep them either."

A farmer named Ayub Ali said: "Hoping for a profit, I took a loan of Tk 1 lakh and grew tomatoes on 150 decimals of land. I have to sell at Tk 3-5 a kg wholesale, which does not cover labour and transport."

Lipi Akter, a farmer from Moddhom Azamnagar village in Hinguli union of Mirsarai, said: "This year I grew tomatoes on 20 decimals of land. My husband, Selim Uddin, works away, so I look after the field. The yield is good but we are not getting a fair price. A khanchi (20 kg) of tomatoes is selling for Tk 80-100, but picking them and taking them to market costs about Tk 150. So I am not picking."

Abul Kashem, a farmer from Moddhom Dhum in Dhum union, said: "There's no point talking about tomatoes. They aren't selling, so I'm not picking them. Many people are taking them from the field to eat, and that's for the best. I grew tomatoes on about 40 decimals. At first I got a good price; now there's none."

Anwar Hossain, a farmer from Moddhom Sonapahar in Zorarganj union, said: "I grew tomatoes on 20 decimals and still haven't recovered my costs. On Thursday I sold 80 kg of tomatoes for Tk 280, but picking them and taking them to market cost Tk 225."

Visits to Hinguli, Zorarganj, Dhum, Ichhakhali, Osmanpur and Karerhat unions found ripe red tomatoes hanging in clusters. In many fields tomatoes were rotting, and many farmers had pulled up the plants, tomatoes and all.

Sitakunda upazila agriculture officer Md Habibullah said prices had collapsed because tomato production had doubled. If the upazila had a cold store, the surplus could have been stored.

Mirsarai upazila agriculture officer Pratap Chandra Roy said tomatoes were grown on 130 hectares in Mirsarai this year and farmers were suffering some losses because of the fall in prices. A cold store would have greatly benefited Mirsarai's farmers.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.