Telangana: Farmer sets fire to tomato crop over abysmally low prices in Medak

With a 25-kg basket fetching a paltry Rs 50, translating to Rs 2 per kg, the farmer cleared the entire four-acre crop of over seven tonnes and set it ablaze

Medak: In a shocking incident, a tomato farmer in Medak district set his four-acre crop on fire after he failed to get a remunerative price for the vegetables in the market.

The farmer Ravi Goud said he was hardly getting Rs 2 per kg which forced him to clear the entire crop and burn it.

The farmers of Nawabpet in Shivampet mandal were known for cultivating tomato crops regularly. Now, the village had tomato crops on over 70 acres. Since the markets in Telangana were getting a huge amount of tomatoes from across the State, the prices had gone down considerably.

Goud said they were being paid Rs 50 for a 25 kg basket. He said farmers were hardly able to recover transport costs with such paltry remunerative prices. “Lack of guidance, and shortage of storage facilities are pushing the farmers into a crisis,” he lamented. The farmer said he had cleared the entire crop, which was over seven tonnes, due to a lack of remunerative prices in the market.