Farmers Protest in Kalimati, Discard Tomatoes Due to Unfair Prices

Courtesy:Sulav Shrestha/Facebook 

Tomatoes were thrown on the streets of Kalimati after farmers did not receive satisfactory prices for their produce.

Farmers who arrived at the Kalimati fruit and vegetable market on Sunday morning discarded their tomatoes on the roadside after failing to obtain a fair price.

One dissatisfied farmer was quoted as saying, 'How can we sell at 8 rupees per kilo? A crate doesn't even fetch 100 rupees.'

Farmers from Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur protested by discarding over 10 tons of tomatoes on the road.

The dissenting farmer further stated, 'One crate doesn't even cover the cost of a hundred rupees, with more than half being taken by middlemen. We thought it would be better not to sell at all than to sell under such circumstances.'

Rokaya mentioned that farmers would be adversely affected as the prices set in the morning at the Kalimati fruit and vegetable market tend to change after 8:00 am.

In a strong warning, the protesting farmers declared that if fair prices were not provided, they would throw their produce in front of Maitighar and Singhdarbar.