These are the tomatoes in my kitchen I had bought these in morning from a nearby store at 45 rupees per kg. If as an consumer I am paying Rs 45 Then let's estimate From my 45 rupees How much do the farmers get? 40? 30? At least 20 right? NO Only 2 rupees goes into the farmers Moreover, They aren't even getting 2 rupees That's why they are throwing these in the rivers and streets How do tomatoes produced for only 2 rupees end up at 45 rupees? Who are the middlemen involved in this Let's understand the syndicate of Vegetable Mafia and the politics A few days ago, there was news circulating that farmers threw Tomatoes in Kalimati Several news articles said that farmers dumped approximately 25,000 kilograms of tomatoes on the road Most media outlets reported that farmers were the ones responsible for the tomatoes being dumped. However, as a farmer's son myself I found it difficult to believe such news. Just like Farmers raise to their sons and daughters, as well as vegetables and crops
The amount of care they put into growing vegetables It wasn't convinced that they threw these vegetables that easily. That's why we started to research It was the middlemen who creating this drama so that they could buy these tomatoes at Rs 2 and then sell it for Rs 45 You might ask How? I will explain in a while But, Let me tell you what happened on that day they threw these tomatoes In Kathmandu, The daily demand for these tomatoes is 70,000 kilograms of tomatoes At times, the supply reached around 65,000 kilograms Supply was near to the Demand One thing that was going well was Nepal didn't have to import tomatoes from India Production in Nepal matched the demand But the large-sized tomatoes that is often used in salads in 5-star hotels is still being imported from India.We aren't being able to produce it in adequate amount in Nepal However, The Kitchen tomatoes used in Kathmandu produced in Kavre, Chitwan and Nuwakot aptly But then, the supply of tomatoes increased after some time It reached around 95,000 kilograms in Kathmandu from its usual 65,000 -70,000.There are two reasons for this The natural increase in Tomatoes production over the past few days secondly, the impact of weather on Tomatoes, It could decay The Farmers, as they are afraid, they are picking it abruptly We don't have enough cooling infrastructure to store it Therefore, Those tomatoes are sent to Kathmandu There was demand of 70,000 in Kathmandu But the supply was 95,000 on daily As the Supply was greater than the demand, the suppliers' stocks of tomatoes also increased This was manageable Because it could be sent to Pokhara However, here, some traders saw an opportunity to make money and created a drama by dumping tomatoes on the streets They disguised themselves as Farmers They called the media showing them 200 crates of tomatoes being dumped but claimed as if they were dumping 5000 crates in front of media, creating a drama. Later, according to the investigation by the market development committee, They found that around 60 crates were dumped outside the gate
and around 140 crates were dumped inside totaling 200 crates And they claimed this was done by the traders, not farmers So, How could this benefit the traders? Well, they were trying to create panic among the farmers When news spread that tomatoes was being dumped in the market, farmers had to sell at a low price So Cheap that they were selling it at a price of 2 Rupees Even if the tomatoes was selling for 2 rupees, when it reached our homes, it was being sold for 45 rupees To get vegetables to our homes, we have to go through five or six layers of intermediaries. Firstly, middlemen create panic among farmers and buy vegetables at extremely low prices. Sometimes, They give fertilizers and already make a deal on those tomatoes Because of this, They wouldn't be able to sell those tomatoes even if someone gives them a better deal This is because the traders already fix the price on their vegetables tomatoes at 2 rupees per kg
onions at 5 rupees per kg, Now, farmers cannot grow tomatoes for 2 rupees. But they don't have any option to sell it for more than 2 rupees either. and this syndicate starts when they provide fertilizers. Because they can't find fertilizers from the stores Because Middlemen create artificial shortage on Fertilizers Therefore, Farmers agree on that Rs 2 deal for those fertilizers The middlemen buy these tomatoes on Rs 2 And sell these a 2 times profit to Collection Market The collection center then sells it to the transport at 6 rupees. The work of the transport is to transport vegetables from rural areas to Kathmandu They sell vegetables to the wholesale sellers in Kathmandu at 8 rupees.
That "wholesale sellers" aren't the sellers at Kalimati there is usually another layer in between Someone buys from the people who bring the vegetables and then sell it to the small wholesale traders in Kalimati. And the Politics are controlled by these intermediaries. They buy from the transport and they sell to the people at Kalimati, right under their nose They manipulate the prices, create fake shortages Now, the whole sellers sell tomatoes for an average of 12 rupees to the retailers These retailers sell to Small retailers by further increasing the price to an average of 22 to 25 rupees.
Not every retailer reach Kalimati to buy these tomatoes The people who deliver these tomatoes to their shops further sell them to retailers at 32 So, when we buy tomatoes in our retail shops, we pay around 45 rupees per kilogram, with the shopkeepers making a profit of about 10 to 13 rupees. And you try to bargain with that shopkeeper to buy the tomatoes for 40 rupees. And they say , "We ourselves get them at 42. We also need to earn cents on it" But In reality, the farmers who produce these can't even earn those cents They are the ones who do the most effort, but they are the ones who get the less profit They sell it even if it's a loss But the price is declared by someone who hasn't seen a "pick hoe" in their entire life Someone who hasn't touch the soil They exploit the farmers and become rich, buying cars, and getting involved in elections But the genuine voices of the farmers remain unheard That's why we see cases like Prem Acharya's suicide. People are burning themselves alive in protest. And this issue is not limited to just tomatoes I have seen it myself in my own village with tea and milk. Until the day comes, when farmers can't put a price on the thing they produced We should pride ourselves on Nepal being a Agricultural Country As of now, Nepal's a exploiting, business-oriented country
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