KAPILVASTU, April 20: Farmers in Buddhabhumi Municipality-10, Kapilvastu, are being forced to leave tomatoes and cabbages rotting in their fields as market prices plummet and buyers disappear. Despite fields brimming with ripe tomatoes, farmers have stopped harvesting their produce after failing to even recover the cost of picking.
Tomatoes and cabbages are reportedly unsold even at throw-away prices of Rs 5 per kilogram. Middlemen and traders have set buying rates between Rs 5 to 10, making it economically unsustainable for farmers to harvest.
“As the cost of picking the tomatoes isn’t even covered, we just left them to rot in the field,” said Baharaichi Kewat, a farmer in the area, “We cannot even recover our investment and effort.”
Kewat estimates that tomatoes worth over Rs 10 million have been left to rot in the fields across nine villages in the ward due to overproduction and low market demand. Villages including Deupura, Mathuranagar, Lauharaula, Dharmapur, Harahawa, Shivpur, Motinagar, Gagani, and Chetaradei are filled with unsold tomatoes—some rotting, others still fresh. Tomatoes have been cultivated across 70 hectares in these villages.
Tomatoes cost Rs 180 a kg in Pokhara
“The plants are hanging low with tomatoes,” said Ram Kewat, a farmer from Deupura. “They’re falling off on their own. It’s disheartening to even look at them.” He shared that he invested Rs 50,000 in tomato farming this season but has barely recovered Rs 20,000. “There’s over Rs 300,000 worth of tomatoes on the plants, but no one will even take them for free,” he added.
Farmer Murali Kewat echoed the same frustration, saying he left his tomatoes to rot after they failed to sell. “No one cares about the farmers’ problems. Politicians only show up to ask for votes,” he said bitterly. According to Baharaichi Kewat, tomatoes worth Rs 600,000 have gone to waste in his fields alone. Around 150 farmers in the ward have been affected.
The village of Dhankauli is known as a vegetable pocket area, with an estimated 55,000 quintals of tomatoes expected to be produced this season. But farmer Bheem Kewat said the pricing dictated by middlemen is at the root of the crisis.
Last year, Ramkumar Yadav earned Rs 400,000 from just 0.84 acres of tomato farming. This year, he has earned only Rs 75,000. “The harvest is good, but the prices have killed our motivation to even pick the tomatoes,” he said.
Baldin Kewat, who runs the Ramghat Fresh Vegetable Collection Center in Chetaradei, said traders from markets like Dang and Butwal have stopped buying tomatoes from the area. With no buyers, he said it's become difficult for him to purchase vegetables from the farmers. Despite the presence of a private cold storage facility nearby, farmers complain that they are not allowed to store their produce there.
According to the farmers, only 10,000 quintals of tomatoes have been sold, while 20,000 quintals have rotted in the fields. Ramshankar Kewat, reported that over Rs 10 million worth of tomatoes and cabbages have spoilt in wards 10 and 5 of Buddhabhumi Municipality, and in Kapilvastu Municipality-9.
Rakesh Ojha, the chief of the Prime Minister's Agriculture Modernization Project in Kapilvastu, admitted that oversupply has caused the price drop.
“Prices are gradually recovering; there’s no need to panic,” he said, noting that the project has provided seed subsidies to support farmers.
However, farmer Raju Kewat said those who planted tomatoes and cabbages have suffered heavy losses. “We let the cabbage rot in the field. We fed some of them to the buffaloes,” he said. He called for the vegetable zone under the modernization project to take concrete action to manage market access and stabilize prices.
