Tomato farmers in Mirsharai and Sitakunda upazilas of Chattogram are frustrated at not getting a fair price despite a bumper harvest. For the past few days, farmers have been seen selling tomatoes at Tk 10-12 a kg in the markets of the two upazilas, and even at that price there are not enough buyers. Recovering their costs has become difficult. Yet the same tomatoes are selling at Tk 25-30 a kg in retail markets.

About 16,000 farmers grow tomatoes in the area from Syedpur union to Salimpur in Sitakunda upazila. Each season seedlings are planted in November and the crop is sold from January to April. This year, however, farmers have been disappointed because the market is not giving a fair price.

Farmers said a lot of tomatoes are still in the fields, but they are having to sell them for a nominal price. Sometimes the price does not even cover the cost of bringing them from field to market.

Talking to farmers at Mohanthat in Sitakunda municipal town, it was learnt that tomatoes are selling there at the lowest price of the season.

Iliyas Hossain of Bogachatar in Syedpur union brought about 90 kg of tomatoes in two baskets to sell. With few buyers, he was forced to sell both baskets for just Tk 1,500, or Tk 10 a kg. He had paid a labourer Tk 600 to pick the tomatoes, spent Tk 100 bringing them from Syedpur, and another Tk 70-80 on market toll, snacks and so on. In short, he made a loss.

"We are so helpless that if we do not get a fair price in the market, we cannot even take the tomatoes back, because they will all rot," he said. "We are in this trouble because there is no storage facility for tomatoes in Sitakunda. If there were, farmers could keep tomatoes in cold storage when prices are low and sell when they rise, and make a profit. Thousands of tomato farmers like me face this every year."

Nurul Karim Khansab of Wahedpur union in Mirsharai upazila said: "We grow all kinds of vegetables depending on the season. In January I planted tomato seedlings on 70 decimals of land, which cost about Tk 36,000 to farm. But I am not getting a price. At first tomatoes sold for Tk 40-50 a kg, but suddenly the price collapsed. Today tomatoes sold for Tk 10-12, and many were forced to sell at Tk 6-7 a kg."

Farmers Ilias Ali and Nurul Karim Khansab called for a cold store for tomatoes in the two upazilas. They said a cold store would let farmers make a profit and keep tomatoes on the market all year. Tomatoes will be sold until April, and if the market stays like this farmers will face heavy losses instead of profits.

In Mirsharai municipal town market, meanwhile, tomatoes were selling at retail for Tk 25-30 a kg, with traders charging Tk 30 for large ones and Tk 25 for small ones.

Asked about the farmers' demand, upazila agriculture officer Md Habibullah said a cold store for farmers there is very urgent. If the government takes the initiative, thousands of farmers in the area will benefit.

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