Form panels to fix fair price for agri produce: Ramadoss

CHENNAI: Citing steep fall in tomato and brinjal prices leading to farmers discarding them, PMK founder Dr Ramadoss on Tuesday demanded the state government set up a commission to fix fair prices for agricultural produce and a board to procure the produce to ensure farmers get fair prices like in Kerala.

In a statement, he said tomato, which was selling at Rs 50 per kg a few weeks back have fallen steeply to Rs 5 per kg in the wholesale market and Rs 10 a kg in retail. The tomato prices have fallen to Rs 1 per kg, which would not be adequate to meet the expense of harvesting and transporting to the market as it would cost Rs 4 per kg.

He said that similar is the case of brinjal, which was selling at Rs 60 to Rs 80 per kg have fallen to Rs 10 per kg. He said that farmers are upset as they were not getting even one-third of the expense incurred for the cultivation.

Pointing out that this is happening every year, he said that the state should adopt Kerala’s policy of fixing the minimum support price for 16 vegetables like tomato, banana, bitter gourd and potatoes and this ensures 20 per cent profit over the expenses for the crops.