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E-tailer bigbasket helps tomato farmers by procuring tomatoes at Rs 7
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Thursday, 11 May, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Bengaluru
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bigbasket, India’s largest online supermarket, has shown its support to tomato farmers, who have been affected by the fall in prices in Karnataka, by procuring them at Rs 7 per kg to cover their cost of cultivation and provide them a subsistence income. The market price is Rs 5 per kg.
Tomato prices in the southern state have fallen to almost 75 per cent below the production cost. While those in the wholesale market have gone down to as low as Rs 2-3 per kg, the cost of production works out to approximately Rs 5-6 per kg.
The price crash is primarily due to the oversupply in the Karnataka market owing to a bumper harvest in some regions like Kolar, which was further worsened by a dip in the demand from the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Vipul Mittal, national head, fruits and vegetables, bigbasket, said, “In such a situation, where farmers are being forced to sell off their produce for as low as Rs 2 per kg, and are practically dumping their produce, bigbasket continues to source its tomatoes responsibly by buying them from farmers for at least their cost of production.”
“This is just a small step to ensure they get the best price in these difficult times. It is our endeavour to bring the freshest vegetables to our customers every day, and farmers are the first and the most important link in that chain,” he added.
“Every time our customer buy fresho! tomatoes, a significant part of their money will go to the farmers of Karnataka, helping them continue to bring fresh produce to the bigbasket collection centres daily,” Mittal stated.
Mahadevappa, a farmer from Mandanahalli village, has been supplying vegetables to bigbasket for the last one-and-a-half years by procuring tomatoes at a higher cost than the market, which was Rs 2 per kg. This has helped recover the production losses in a major way.
Recently, bigbasket launched the Farmer Connect initiative to help the agriculturist to increase his income by approximately 10-15 per cent. The company has set up several collection centres (CC) across the country, and is now sourcing 60 per cent of its fruits and vegetables directly from the farmers, thus eliminating middlemen in the procurement process.
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