Belgaum: Surplus tomato production has led to distress sale in Belgaum. The supply is more than the demand and the price has gone down to as low as Rs. 1.50 a kg to Rs. 2 a kg in the retail market and Re. 1 a kg to Rs. 2 a kg in the wholesale market. Last month, the retail price of tomato touched Rs. 18 a kg. Such price fluctuations are common in the Belgaum market.

Shantavva, a tomato vendor, said she could not sell even 10 kg of tomato until evening. "All people have enough stock in their homes," she said.

In January last, Horticulture Minister R. Srinivas said the Government will procure tomato at a minimum support price if the price crashes below Re. 1 a kg. But this proposal is not scientific for the cost of production of one kg of tomato is not less than Rs. 2 kg. In hi-tech farms, it goes up to Rs. 5 a kg. By making such a statement, the Government made it clear that it will not extend the benefit of minimum support price to tomato growers, a buyer said.

A tomato vendor said that there is no scientific mechanism to monitor price. And middlemen are adding to the problems faced by growers.

The district administration and the Government have been talking about protecting the interests of horticulture farmers in view of the fact that Belgaum is one of the major horticulture centres in the State that exports produce to Goa and Maharashtra. But, the market witnesses fluctuations every year.

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