Angry over lack of storage facility resulting in distress sale of tomato, a large number of farmers on Monday took to the streets and dumped tonnes of tomato in front of the Keonjhar district Collectorate.
According to reports, the farmers of Bardapal and Mahadeijoda villages under Sadar block in the district had come to meet Collector N Tirumala Nayak to discuss the issues of the steep fall in tomato price, which has forced them to sell the vegetable at much lower price, and the lack tomato cold storage facility.
However, to the great disappointment of the farmers, the Collector was absent. As they failed to meet the Collector, they submitted their memorandum to the Sub-Collector.
later, the agitating farmers dumped the tomatoes in front of the Collector’s office claiming that they fail to preserve their agricultural produce due to lack of cold storages and food processing units in the district.
It may be mentioned that the price of this essential vegetable has fallen to as low as Re 1 per kilogram. local traders are not even ready to buy tomatoes at Re 1 per kg, the agitating farmers added.
