Chittoor: A farmer hailing from Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district managed to sell 40,000 boxes of tomatoes, resulting in an impressive income of Rs 4 crores in a period of 45 days. All amidst the surging tomato prices in India, Chandramouli, a tomato farmer with 22-acre farming land, decided to cultivate a rare variety of tomato plants named ‘Sahu’ in the early weeks of April.
With advanced farming techniques such as mulching and micro-irrigation, he managed to expedite the yield. His efforts paid off, and by the end of June, he successfully obtained a bountiful tomato harvest.
“From the produce, I got so far, I have earned Rs. 4 crores. Overall, I had to invest Rs 1 crores in my 22 acres of land to get the yield and this includes transportation charges and commission”, said Chandramouli.
Chandramouli sold his produce to the nearby Kolar market in Karnataka, which was conveniently situated close to his hometown. The price of a 15 Kg crate of tomatoes fluctuated between Rs 1000 to Rs 1500. Remarkably, he managed to sell a total of 40000 boxes of tomatoes.
In response to the significant surge in tomatoes prices nationwide, the agencies National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) initiated the process of procurement of tomatoes from mandis with the goal of distributing them to major consumption centers where retail prices had experienced the highest surge.