Summer tomato growers in the district are worried despite high yield this year as the prices of the vegetable have fallen drastically amid the severe heat wave.
The farmers sold per maund of summer tomato for Tk 1,100 when the vegetable hit the market this year. As the tomato prices fall, they are now selling per maund tomato for Tk 300 to 350, much to the disppointment of the growers.
The farmers could not keep tomatoes in their field due to high temperature while wholesale buyers also could not supply the vegetable to different parts of the country amid the severe heat wave.
The largest summer tomato market in the country’s northern region sits at Gopalpur (Gabura) Bazar under 4 No. Sheikhpura Union in Sadar Upazila of the district. The market usually starts at 3:00am and continues till 9:00am.
There is a huge demand for the summer tomatoes of Dinajpur across the country due to its good taste and health benefits. But the growers and traders are now counting losses because of severe heat wave. Tomatoes now get rotten both on streets and in the field due to the high temperature.
Small-sized tomatoes are ripening in the field and farmers are bringing more tomatoes to the market. Due to huge supply of the vegetable in the market, its price has fallen drastically, frustrating the farmers.
Sources in the Agriculture Extension Department of Dinajpur District said summer tomato has been cultivated on 960 hectares of land this year while it was
cultivated on 934 hectares of land last year.
Two mini-cold storages are now being set up in Birganj and Chirirbandar upazilas of the district to store tomatoes following long-standing demand of the farmers.
Agriculture office said farmers in Sadar, Chirirbandar, Khansama, Birganj, Biral and Phulbari upazilas of the district have been cultivating the summer tomato for the last 24 years. They plant seeds in the month of December while the plants bear fruits within two months and the tomatoes start ripening within another month. Farmers sell the summer tomato till June.
While visiting the tomato market, this correspondent found that more than 150 trucks carrying summer tomatoes usually leave the market every day for different destinations in the country.
Md Nuruzzaman, deputy director of Dinajpur Agriculture Extension Department, said the healthy tomatoes produced in Dinajpur have been meeting the demand of people for the last 24 years. The target of production has been achieved in almost every year, he said.
He hoped that the prices of summer tomato would increase soon.
