Farmers in Hyderabad protest against tomato import, destroy crop in protest
Farmers say they are selling tomatoes for Rs11 to Rs15 per kg, but fear prices could go down to Rs5 per kg
January 24, 2021
- Farmers in Hyderabad have destroyed their ready-to-reap harvest in protest against the government's move to import tomatoes
- Farmers say imported tomatoes in the market have drastically reduced prices of home-grown ones
- Farmers say they are currently selling tomatoes for Rs11 to Rs15 per kg, but fear prices could further go down to Rs5 per kg
HYDERABAD: As the government continued the import of tomatoes which downgraded the prices of locally-grown ones in Hyderabad, farmers staged a protest and destroyed their ready-to-reap harvest.
According to the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), the federal government was informed about the situation one-and-a-half months ago but it did not stop the import process.
Read more: Govt to bring prices down, improve supply of commodities: Shibli Faraz
As imported tomatoes continued to be supplied to the markets, the rates of local tomatoes drastically went down.
According to SAB, farmers are selling tomatoes for Rs11 to Rs15 per kilogramme at the moment, and prices are predicted to be further downgraded to Rs5 per kg.
Read more: Govt decides to import tomatoes from Iran due to high prices in country
