Karnataka farmer earns Rs 40 lakh selling tomatoes, hoping to earn Rs 1 cr

Soaring tomato prices have made another farmer millionaire, overnight. As per a report in the Times of India, a farmer in Karnataka is said to have earned approximately Rs 40 lakh after selling 800 bags of tomatoes.

The farmer, Rajesh, has cultivated tomatoes on his 12-acre farm and expects to earn about one crore rupees if the current prices remain stable. Flush with funds, Rajesh is now looking for a bride and an SUV.

Rajesh is not alone.

In July, a farmer in Andhra Pradesh's Chitoor district became a crorepati and earned Rs 3 crore after selling the fruit. Another farmer in Telangana’s Medak district earned a whopping Rs 2 crore by selling tomatoes, while another crop worth Rs 1 crore is ready for harvest.

Tomato prices have skyrocketed in recent times and are expected to touch Rs 300 per kilogramme in the coming days.

Tomato prices have been under pressure for more than a month now on account of supply disruptions caused by heavy rainfall in the key producing regions.

With the central government's intervention through the sale of tomatoes at a subsidised rate since July 14, retail prices in the national capital had begun softening recently but have again firmed up due to short supply.

Meanwhile, unprecedented stories of tomato theft are now coming to light.

Last month, a Jaipur-bound truckload of tomatoes went missing. A trader has claimed that he lost touch with the driver and cleaner of his truck, which was carrying 11 tonnes of tomatoes from the district headquarters town of Kolar, en route to the Rajasthan capital.

Before that, tomatoes worth Rs 2.5 lakh were stolen from a farm in Goni Somanahalli village in Belur taluk of Karnataka's Hassan district. Thieves allegedly decamped with 50–60 bags of tomatoes from a woman farmer's agricultural field, following which a case of theft was lodged at the Halebeedu police station.

In another such incident, a couple from neighbouring Tamil Nadu was arrested by the police for hijacking a truck laden with 2.5 tonnes of tomatoes in Bengaluru after faking an accident to extort money. According to the police, the couple was part of a gang of highway robbers that intercepted Mallesh, a farmer from Hiriyur in Chitradurga district, at Chikkajala on July 8. They demanded money, claiming that the farmer's truck had bumped into their car. The farmer was transporting tomatoes in his Mahindra Bolero jeep to Kolar. When he refused to pay them, the miscreants assaulted him, pushed him out of the truck, and drove away with the vehicle loaded with 2.5 tonnes of tomatoes.

With agency inputs