A CORRESPONDENT
BOKAKHAT: At a time when tomatoes are sold at Rs 40-50 per kg in different markets in Guwahati and other urban areas in the state, the farmers in the Bokakhat subdivision have no way out but to leave them to rot in the fields. This precarious situation highlights several shortcomings in the state, including inadequate cold storage facilities and the interference of middlemen who take a larger share of the profits, leaving farmers in a difficult position and causing consumers to pay excessively.
Tomato farmers in several areas of the Bokakhat subdivision are currently facing severe losses. Due to the failure to receive fair prices for their produce in the market, farmers are being forced to leave quintals of tomatoes to rot in their fields, creating a tragic situation.
There is widespread distress among tomato growers in areas such as Golong Temera and nearby localities in Bokakhat. What is particularly alarming is that while poor farmers are compelled to destroy their crops because they cannot secure fair prices, tomatoes are simultaneously being sold in retail markets at prices ranging from Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kilogram. Farmers have expressed anger, stating that this giant disparity between farm-gate and retail prices exposes the complete failure of Assam’s agricultural marketing system. They argue that both farmers and consumers are being exploited due to the dominance of middlemen and the lack of effective government regulation.
The issue has sparked strong reactions throughout the Bokakhat region. The JIPAL Krishak Sramik Sangha has urged the government to immediately conduct a proper survey of the affected areas and provide suitable compensation to the farmers who have suffered losses. It has also demanded that Minister Atul Bora establish an agricultural processing industry in the Bokakhat constituency at the earliest to preserve and process perishable agricultural products such as potatoes and tomatoes.
Additionally, the organisation has strongly demanded the establishment of small cold storage facilities in every panchayat.
Criticising what it described as the government’s anti-farmer stance, JIPAL spokesperson Prabin Pegu, in a statement issued to the media, said, “The government that keeps promoting the false slogan of doubling farmers’ income is allowing Bokakhat’s farmers to throw away the fruits of their hard work right under its nose.”
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