Dumped on the roadsides by the farmers on many instances because of their low prices in the market, tomatoes, the red, juicy kitchen staple selling between ₹100 and ₹200 a kilo are now under CCTV surveillance in many fields and are held in double locks in shops. Farmers and traders are seen protecting tomatoes by taking every possible precaution.
Abdul Gani Sayyed, a farmer from Kokangaon in Niphad (Nashik) has recently installed three CCTV cameras in his fields. These cameras are not for his or his family members’ security, but to keep an eye on tomato thieves. With the rates of tomatoes still soaring in the market, farmers are taking every possible precaution to protect the precious produce which has fetched many of them crores of rupees.
Sayyed has cultivated tomatoes on his three acres of land and has installed three cameras as there have been instances of tomato theft in the district. Sayyed’s residence is far away from the field and he wants to ensure that anyone who tries to take away his produce should be caught on camera. Local media has highlighted Sayyed’s initiative to protect his crop. Sayyed speaking to reporters said that farmers have to be very careful about the tomato crop considering its “ value” in the market. He said that there have been instances where the yield has been damaged by miscreants or has been stolen from the field.
Last month, another farmer Arun Dhome approached the police, alleging the theft of 400 kg of tomatoes worth ₹20,000. Dhome told the police that he harvested tomatoes from his farm and brought the vegetables to his home in Shirur tehsil in a vehicle with the help of labourers. Dhome said he had planned to sell the tomatoes in the market. However, when he woke up on Monday morning, he found that 20 crates of the precious commodity were missing.
“I lock my shop with double lock because of tomatoes inside” says Kaka Chavan a vendor in Pune while traders in APMC are extra vigilant when the wholesale tomatoes come to the market early morning.
Tomato Money
Tomato farmers and their produce in Maharashtra came to the limelight not only because of soaring prices in the markets but also for handsome returns. Ishwar Gayakar and his wife Sonali from Junnar taluka earned ₹2.8 crore by selling tomatoes and they target to earn ₹3.5 crore by selling about 4,000 crates of tomatoes by the end of the season. Like the Gayakars, other tomato farmers in the Pune district have earned handsome incomes as prices skyrocketed in the last few weeks. “Farmers making money due to tomatoes is becoming headlines but we have not earned constant profits and whatever money we are getting today will compensate for losses for the last many years,” say farmer Hemant Pawar.