Chandigarh: The floods that wreaked havoc in Punjab and Haryana have taken a heavy toll on the vegetable farmers in the region. The tomato growing belt in Haryana which sends its crop to Delhi has been destroyed forcing prices to spiral.
Hundreds of acres of land was flooded and thousands of people displaced in the recent floods in the two states. The floods also hit the common man in the rest of north India where it hurts as vegetable prices have shot up. Tomatoes are now selling in Delhi's markets at Rs 60 per kilo.
"The region between Ambala and Karnal is the tomato growing belt of Haryana. This area has seen the crop getting totally destroyed," says Ram Pal Mithan, District Horticulture Officer, Karnal.
Every day 15 tons of tomatoes from this region are sent to Delhi's bustling markets. Kurukshetra alone has 3000 acres of land under tomato cultivation. Several districts in neighbouring Punjab, like Patiala and Sangrur, have also seen huge devastation of vegetable crop.
"The rains this time have destroyed the crop totally. Now there will be no tomatoes going to Delhi as there are no tomatoes growing here," says a farmer Om Prakash.
"The rains have totally destroyed the vegetables. Tomatoes have been finished off and so has the ladies finger," says another farmer Rajbir Singh.
Experts say tomato prices will remain high till the produce from Himachal and Uttaranchal arrive in August.
"The tomatoes from Solan, Rajgarh and Uttranchal will start arriving sometime by August 10. Till then in the face of acute dearth of tomatoes the price is sure to go up. It is advisable that people use tomato puree till then," adds Mithan.
But for these farmers who have lost their entire crop tough times lie ahead. Many will be hard pressed to make ends meet.
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