MYSURU: Two weeks ago, the prices of tomato and beans were hovering around Rs 30 and Rs 50 per kg. But now the prices have crashed to below Re 1 and Rs 15 respectively in most of the markets in the city. Farmers are clueless about the drop in the price and want the state government to come to their rescue.According to vegetable vendors in Devaraja Market , APMC Market, Mahatma Gandhi Road Market etc, till the first week of December, the supply was low and hence the price was stable. But now supply of vegetables has increased from most parts of the state including border areas of Tamil Nadu causing a sudden dip in prices. They add that the Hindu month of Dhanurmasa which started on December 16 further worsened the situation as no auspicious events are conducted in this period decreasing demand further."The biggest losers are those who have grown the local variety of tomato (jawari) and beans as they have no demand in Bengaluru. The result is these vegetables are sold at a throwaway price. Till the first week of December, the price of vegetables was fixed per box. Now farmers are selling tomatoes and beans on a per load basis. The market is fluctuating," said Gopikumar, a vendor from Devaraja Market. "We see this trend every year. In July/ August, a kg of tomato was being sold for above Rs 90 and everyone had assumed that it will cross the Rs 100 mark," he added.According to Basavaraj , a resident of Chamarajanagar and a cultivator, this year all vegetable growers witnessed a bumper crop due to conducive weather. "We get less than Re 1per kg from vendors. Good quality tomato is being supplied to Bengaluru for Rs 4 to Rs 5 per kg. But the local variety tomato has no takers. We are virtually dumping these vegetables in the city. The government must come out with an action plan to educate farmers on avoiding a similar situation next year," he said.C Govindaraju, senior farm superintendent, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru's Naganahalli centre, told TOI that supply of tomato over and above the demand has caused this crisis."This is the harvesting season for tomato and beans. The weather was good for tomato crop this year. As a result, farmers have reaped a bumper harvest. But on the flipside, the rate is crashing everywhere. With all farmers opting for the same crop, such a situation was bound to occur," he said.

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