Vegetable prices dwindle

Ongole: Vegetable cultivation was increased in Prakasam district compared to last year. Hence, the farmers reaped a bumper harvest which led to dwindling of prices.

The farmers hold the government responsible for this as they had to cultivate vegetables as the decision had decided not to release water to the right canal of the Nagarjunasagar dam for cultivation of paddy.

For the last three days, the on-farm price and merchant prices of vegetables like tomatoes and egg plants are very low and the farmers are not able to recover the charges of even plucking. 

On Saturday and Sunday, brinjal was offered at Rs 70 on each bag of 70 kg in Prakasam district, including several villages in Martur, Addanki, Giddalur and Bestavaripet mandals. Forget about the returns on their investment and the hours that they had spent on cultivation, the prices offered are not at all remunerative.

As a result, the farmers are heartbroken as they had spent Rs 150 on each bag of tomatoes and also purchasing an empty gunny bag for Rs 10. The 20 kg tomato crates were offered for Rs 50 by the wholesale merchant at the markets after the farmer brought the produce on his own transport expenses.

During the last season, the government took a decision not to release water from the Nagarjunasagar right canal, which usually goes wet with the paddy crop in Parchur, Martur and Addanki mandals. As the government told farmers not to go for the paddy crop, most of the farmers started growing vegetables in more than 15,000 acres in the area. 

The farmers in Giddalur, Cumbum, Bestavaripet, Racharla, Komarole mandals depend on borewells for cultivation on their regular area. As the season is good so far, there was a good yield, and the farmers were happy until they started plucking the produce.

As the produce is reaching the markets in large quantities, the merchants have reduced the price, which is not more than Rs 3 to 4 per kg of brinjal and Rs 3 per kg of tomatoes in the markets of Guntur, Vijayawada and Chennai. So, the farmers abandoned the produce in the fields as they have no storage facilities to sell it later.

P Venkateswara Rao of Giddalur said, “We are gambling on agriculture. We lose when the weather is bad as it would result in poor yield. We also lose, when they are good too. The middlemen in the markets are the main profit makers who are cheating the farmers and the consumers alike. They buy the produce at a cheap rate from us and sell it to you at a higher price.”

By Naresh Nandam