Andhra's Tomato, Onion farmers demand govt intervention

Farmers are facing a severe crisis as tomato and onion prices have crashed to historic lows, causing significant financial and emotional distress. After investing heavily in their crops, many farmers are now being forced to abandon them or dump them on roadsides.

At Pathikonda Market Yard, a major tomato trading hub, wholesale prices have plummeted to Rs 5-8 per kg, a drastic drop from Rs 20 just last week. The market is overwhelmed with a surplus of produce, with arrivals jumping from 10 quintals to 40 tonnes on a recent Sunday. This oversupply, combined with poor crop quality due to recent rains and a lack of export demand from neighboring states like Karnataka, Telangana, and Maharashtra, has flooded the market.

Farmers, who spent up to Rs 50,000 per acre, are selling their crops at a loss or not harvesting at all. One farmer from Belagal mandal, Ramanjaneyulu, destroyed his Rs 1.5 lakh tomato crop with a tractor, as he couldn't even justify the transport costs. Another farmer in Devanakonda dumped his produce, saying, "We're watching our hard work rot."

Onion farmers are in a similar situation. Wholesale prices at the Kurnool Agricultural Market Yard have dropped to Rs 300 per quintal, down from Rs 2,000 last month. With daily arrivals exceeding 1,000 quintals, the market is saturated with low-quality onions and no export demand.

Boya Ponnakallu Naidu, a farmer from Guduru, shared that his brother-in-law abandoned 75 quintals of onions because there were no buyers. While Naidu was able to sell his produce at the state's Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 1,200 per quintal, he noted it was barely enough to stay afloat, calling it "clinging to a piece of wood while drowning."

Government Intervention and Farmer Demands

To provide some relief, MARKFED has procured over 20,000 quintals of onions under the state's MSP scheme since August 31. On September 13 and 14, 1,500 metric tonnes of these onions were auctioned to traders. Kurnool market yard secretary R. Jaya Lakshmi has advised farmers to grade their produce properly and avoid premature harvesting. However, due to crop damage and low quality, many farmers are unable to do so or even afford to transport their crops to market.

Farmers are urgently calling on the government for stronger support, including:

• Better procurement systems.

• The establishment of tomato processing units.

• Long-term strategies to stabilize prices and prevent such crises in the future.