Hubballi: It’s a tomato glut in Hubballi. Not only are the markets flooded with tomatoes, but they are also being dumped on roadsides for cattle to enjoy. Take farmer Mallikarjun Hosamani of Navalgund, who came to the market with high hopes of making good money with his three quintals of tomatoes, but left dumping the lot on the roadside as he could not sell them for even Rs 1 a kg.
While several farmers from Dharwad, Haveri and Gadag cultivated tomatoes, hoping to make enough money to overcome the loss caused by their crop loss during the last drought, they had not reckoned with heavy arrivals of tomatoes from Kolar and Mysuru where they have been produced in excess, to the local markets, causing the prices to crash.
Says distressed farmer Rajashekar Bidnal of Gajendragad in Ron taluk of Gadag district, “I grew tomatoes by taking a loan hoping to make some money after the drought. But I haven’t been able to make enough to cover the cost of transportation of my produce to the market. So I have no choice now but to stop harvesting the standing crop.”
Many farmers arriving at the market have been similarly crushed by the crash in prices and are dumping them on the roadside for cattle to feed on, he adds.
Dharwad deputy director of horticulture, S B Diddimani, when contacted, said Hubballi was seeing a heavy flow of tomatoes from Kolar, Mandya, Mysuru and Hassan where they were being sold for less than Rs 5 a kg due to over-production. He also blamed middlemen for causing the price-crash.
