A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 21 online markets across the country to help farmers sell their produce online and do away with middlemen, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was giving away tomatoes to poor families in Vidisha, as prices crashed to an all-time low. Prices were down to Rs 2 a kg, which was not enough to recover the cost of sowing.
Wholesale price of onions have also plummeted to 20 to 30 paise a kg in several districts including Vidisha, Neemuch and Mandsaur, where farmers cannot afford the cost of transportation.
The cost of sowing tomatoes in one bigha (2.5 acres) is estimated at Rs 40,000. As the district recorded a bumper crop, one bigha received 17,500 kgs of tomatoes. But at a rate of Rs 2 a kg or less, the farmers are not getting even Rs 35,000 from a bigha.
With the government making efforts to double the income of farmers, the new crisis will not only hit the farm community financially but also mentally, who were looking for 'ache din' after numerous schemes announced by the Centre.
