‘Red beauty’ price crash leaves farmers in distress

Davanagere: The ‘Red Beauty’ tomatoes, famous in the Mayakonda region of Davanagere district, have faced a significant price crash, leaving farmers in financial turmoil. The drastic fall in prices has become a major concern for growers who had invested heavily in this crop.

Initially, the soaring tomato prices encouraged farmers in the region to cultivate ex-tensively, with crops spread across 100-200 acres. However, the prices have now plummeted, with a box of tomatoes selling for just Rs 100-150, compared to the earli-er rate of Rs 500-600 per box. Farmers have spent between Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh per acre to grow tomatoes. With the current low market prices, they are unable to re-cover their investments, leading to an increase in debt.

“We invested heavily in tomato cultivation, but now the prices are so low that we are facing huge losses. The government has withdrawn subsidies and even fertilizer support. We need immediate assistance,” said Manjanna, a farmer from Mayakonda. Renukamma, a farmer from Kodaganuru village, expressed her distress: “We culti-vated tomatoes on two acres when prices were Rs 500-600 per box. Now, they’ve dropped to Rs 100-150.

Despite spending Rs 50,000-60,000 per acre, we are left with nothing. After paying for labour, transport, and middlemen, we have no profit. We are burdened with loans and desperately need government intervention.”

Farmers demanded immediate compensation for crop losses, government inter-vention to stabilize tomato prices and financial relief for farmers struggling with debt.

With no respite in sight, farmers are struggling to survive the crisis. They have appealed to the government for urgent measures to address the price crash and sup-port them in recovering from their financial losses.