Ranchi, Feb 14 : Thousands of farmers in Jharkhand are in deep crisis after the price of tomatoes plummeted to as low as Rs 2 - Rs 3 per kg. They have now abandoned their tomato crops, leaving them to rot in the fields.

In some areas, wholesale buyers are unwilling to pay even Re 1 per kilogram, making it impossible for farmers to recover their investment.

Faced with mounting losses, several farmers have resorted to destroying their ripe crops with tractors.

Large-scale cultivators as well as small ones have suffered huge losses running into lakhs, as tomato farming communities span thousands of acres across various districts of Jharkhand like Chatra, Latehar, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur, Ramgarh, Bokaro, Ranchi, Lohardaga, and Giridih.

Prices have been in free fall since January. Even in the retail market, tomatoes are fetching no more than Rs 5-Rs 10 per kg.

The cost of labour and transportation is more than what farmers earn from the sale of their produce.

Sonaram Manjhi, a farmer from Patamda in East Singhbhum district, says a crate of 40-50 kg of tomatoes is being sold for just Rs 30-Rs 35 in the wholesale market, not even Re 1 per kg.

Raghunath Mahato from Chatra adds that the returns don't even cover the cost of planting and irrigation. 'It takes Rs 35,000--Rs 40,000 to cultivate one acre of tomatoes, but at current prices, we are losing Rs 8,000--Rs 10,000 per acre,' he laments.

Pachchu Mahato from Balumath in Latehar shares a similar plight. "We bought expensive seeds and spent heavily on fertilisers and irrigation, yet buyers refuse to pay more than a few rupees per kg," he said.

The crisis is not new. Last year, farmers in Barkagaon, Hazaribagh, dumped their tomato crops on the streets when they couldn't find buyers.

This year the situation is worsened by a steep decline in prices of other vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, and spinach, further deepening farmers' distress.

'If we keep incurring such losses year after year, we will be forced to abandon farming altogether,' says Ramsevak Dangi, a farmer from Chatra.

/IANS