Tomato farmers in Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool district have staged protests after wholesale prices dropped to one rupee (US$0.012) per kilogram in the Pathikonda wholesale market. Growers responded by dumping their produce on roads, causing traffic disruption on the Gooty-Mantralayam route.
The farmers demanded government intervention to ensure remunerative prices and called for the immediate establishment of a tomato processing facility in the region. Andhra Pradesh currently leads India in tomato productivity with an average of 41.22 tons per hectare across 62,000 hectares. The estimated annual yield in the state is 2.217 million tons. In Kurnool district alone, tomatoes are cultivated on around 4,800 hectares, producing approximately 167,591 tons each year.
Tomatoes are harvested in two seasons: August to October (Kharif) and December to April (Rabi). The Pathikonda wholesale market is the second-largest tomato market in Andhra Pradesh after Madanapalli in Chittoor district. Price volatility in Pathikonda has been a recurring issue for farmers, prompting state authorities to approve the construction of a processing unit.
Earlier this year, the government issued an order allocating Rs 110 million (US$1.32 million) for a tomato processing unit on 1 hectare of land at Dudekonda. The plan was announced by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during the election campaign last year.
Political debate has followed the price collapse. Opposition leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy criticised the state government, pointing to the sharp decline in tomato and onion prices. He said, "In Kurnool, onion is being sold for Rs 3 (US$0.036) per kg and tomato for Rs 1.50 (US$0.018) per kg. Are these prices for farmers to survive? Should the farmer not live?" Reddy argued that tomato growers were discarding their harvests due to the lack of buyers and demanded immediate state intervention.
With Pathikonda being a major supply hub, the volatility in tomato prices continues to expose growers to recurring losses despite high productivity in Andhra Pradesh. Farmers state that without storage and processing capacity, the region remains vulnerable to sudden gluts and collapses in wholesale prices.
Source: The Mooknayak
