Last June, farmers dumped truckloads of tomatoes on the road outside the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market in Kathmandu to vent their anger at the low prices they were getting.
Photos and videos of the mounds of tomatoes in the middle of the road blocking traffic duly appeared on social media. Eventually, the city's bulldozers arrived and scooped up the squishy vegetables and cleared the road.
As per Kalimati vegetable market sources, farmers had thrown around 90 tonnes of tomatoes on the street.
The tomato growers said they were forced to dump their produce because they were not able to get a fair price, and there was no way they could compete with cheap Indian tomatoes flooding the market.
The market price of Nepali tomatoes at that time was Rs35 per kg, while farmers received Rs10 per kg for their harvest.
Farmers in Chitwan had thrown a similar tantrum last February by tossing out tonnes of tomatoes and other vegetables on the road for not getting paid enough.
Tomato prices are currently at an all-time high. The wholesale price of the indispensable vegetable is Rs180 per kg while retail customers pay Rs220 per kg.
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