Tomatoes from Madurai, Theni sold at ₹95 a kg in Ramanathapuram Uzhavar Santhai

Tomatoes from Madurai, Theni sold at ₹95 a kg in Ramanathapuram Uzhavar Santhai

With the tomato harvesting season over in pockets of Ramanathapuram district, officials of Department of Horticulture are buying tomatoes from the nearby districts of Theni and Madurai to sell them through Uzhavar Santhai in Ramanathapuram.

The officials have managed to sell 60 kg to 80 kg of tomatoes at a price lower than that of market price to benefit the consumers. “While the market price is around ₹140 to ₹150 a kg, we are selling them at ₹95 a kg,” said Deputy Director of Horticulture S. Nagarajan.

Tomato is grown in around nine hectares of land in Kamudhi and Nainarkoil blocks. “But, the farmers here raise them in January and the harvest which begins around February gets over by May. From then on, we depend on other districts for supply of tomatoes,” he said.

The officials have been advising the farmers to spare at least one-fourth of their land for staggered cultivation of tomatoes. “When all farmers start harvesting the produce at the same time, the price falls drastically and when the price goes up their produce gets exhausted. Even if they get small quantity of tomatoes harvested in June and July, they will stand to gain a lot,” Mr. Nagarajan said.

A customer, P. Saravanan from Velipattinam, bought half-a-kg of tomato for ₹44. Stating that tomato is indispensable for cooking, he said he bought it in lesser quantity since his family was small. It is a good thing that tomatoes are sold at a nominal price in Uzhavar Santhai, he added.

Another customer, C. R. Kumar, of Jothi Nagar, who occasionally visits Uzhavar Santhai, came there only to buy tomatoes at a cheaper rate. “The regular shops are selling it for ₹140 a kg. So, I came here and bought one kg for ₹95,” he said. He said that efforts should be made to keep tomato price stable throughout the year.