Rangpur tomato growers recouping yesteryear’s losses

Last year most farmers of Rangpur had no option but with a heavy heart let tomatoes rot in the fields as prices they were selling for were far from recouping labour and transportation costs.

This year, however, they are in for better times. Tomatoes are selling at higher prices. The situation has turned around, such that farmers are not having to take their produce to the market.

Instead, vegetable traders are coming over to the fields to purchase tomatoes. The vegetable traders are also benefiting from the business this year.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), tomatoes have been cultivated on 9,000 hectares of land in eight districts of greater Rangpur this year. The target is to produce 3.80 lakh tonnes of tomatoes.

However, last year the cultivation area totalled 12,000 hectares. But the losses had led to many to opt out from cultivating the vegetable this year.

It costs Tk 18,000 to Tk 20,000 to cultivate tomatoes on one bigha of land. And farmers can get 120 maunds to 150 maunds (one maund equals 37 kilogrammes) of tomatoes from each bigha of land, said DAE officials.

Abdur Razzak, 56, a farmer from Barua village in Kulaghat union of Lalmonirhat sadar upazila, has invested Tk 13,000 into growing tomatoes on 20 decimals of land this year.

He has already sold 70 maunds at Tk 700 per maund and hopes to bring in a harvest of over 18 maunds to 20 maunds.

"I have made an unexpected profit farming tomatoes this year. I have recouped last year's loss and benefited," he said.

He had cultivated tomatoes on 40 decimal of land at a cost of Tk 28,000 last year and was able to make sales worth Tk 3,000 only.

"Later, I left the tomatoes to rot in the field as prices were not high enough to cover labour and transportation costs," Razzak said.

Abdul Quader, 46, a tomato grower in the same area, said he sold tomatoes for Tk 70 to Tk 80 per maund last year but this year the rate was Tk 700 to Tk 800.

Due to the losses incurred last year, he had cultivated tomatoes on 40 decimals of land instead of the usual 100 decimals.

"Last year, I lost Tk 45,000 cultivating tomatoes."

This year, Quader has sold tomatoes grown on 40 decimals of land at Tk 1.30 lakh having spent just Tk 28,000.

"If I had the idea that I would be able to make such a profit by producing tomatoes this year, I would have planted this crop on more land."

Narendra Nath Roy, 60, a farmer from Baidyer Bazar village in Rajarhat upazila of Kurigram, has cultivated tomatoes on three bighas of land.

He got 265 maunds of tomatoes from the land and sold it at Tk 720 per maund.

"Vegetable traders are buying tomatoes directly from the fields. I took the tomatoes to the market last year but could not sell them. We have made an unexpected profit by cultivating tomatoes this year," he said.

Mokhleshar Rahman, a vegetable trader in the municipal market in Kurigram town, said the supply of tomatoes was high but the demand was low last year.

Farmers could not sell tomatoes even when they came to the market. "This year we are going to the farmers' fields and buying tomatoes," he said.

The traders are sending tomatoes from the market to different parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka.

"Last year, we also made a loss in the tomato business, but this year we have been able to reach expected profits," Rahman said.

Khorshed Alam Sarkar, a vegetable trader from Dhaka, said that more than 100 vegetable traders from Dhaka were buying tomatoes from different parts of Rangpur.

The supply of tomatoes this year is a bit less than that last year.

"We are buying tomatoes from local vegetable traders and supplying them to vegetable markets in different parts of the country by trucks," he said.

Shamim Ashraf, deputy director of the DAE in Lalmonirhat, says although tomatoes were cultivated on a lesser extent than last year, farmers have gained expected yields this year.

"Farmers have benefited more this year by cultivating all kinds of vegetables, including tomatoes. Current market prices have encouraged farmers to cultivate a variety of vegetables."