BAJHANG, Sept 12: The price of tomato has been increasing exponentially in the local market of Bajhang. Citing low production by the farmers, vendors are selling tomatoes at Rs 180 per kg these days.
The vendors said that they had to bring tomatoes from Dhangadi, while the farmers said that they had sold tomatoes to the vendors at Rs 15 to Rs 20 per kilograms.
Gajendra Bista, a local from Jayaprithivi Municipality said: "No one is ready to reduce the price, everybody says that they have brought tomatoes from Dhangadi so it costs more."
Despite such exorbitant pricing by the vendors, the local administration is silent about this issue, he added.
According to a local vendor Sunil Joshi, this year tomato production was less in the district, so they had to bring tomatoes from Dhangadi which is costlier for them too.
"We have kept a profit of only Rs 10 per kilogram at exact rate," he said.
Due to heavy rainfall and plant diseases, vegetables decayed this year. Agreeing to the fact that fewer vegetables were produced this year, Rajesh KC, senior Agriculture Development Officer, said that this year consumers have to pay high price for tomatoes.
"The vendors have taken advantage of the farmer's situation. These days, vegetables are really expensive," KC said.
Tomatoes cost Rs 180 a kg in Pokhara
