The Gaulapar area in Haldwani, known for tomato cultivation, has been hit hard by pests and climatic factors this season. The local farmers state that about 80 per cent of their cultivated tomatoes have been damaged by pests. The farmers are now facing considerable financial loss. Meanwhile, the drop in yield has directly affected the market with a considerable rise in the price of the tomatoes arriving in the market during the winter.

The rates of the tomatoes exiting the Haldwani Mandi have reached as high as Rs 100 per kilogramme in recent days. Some farmers who have been able to somehow protect their crop are benefitting from the increased rates. However, most farmers growing tomatoes are suffering due to the damage to the crop caused by pests and climatic factors.

Progressive farmer Narendra Mehra said there was no major disaster like hail while cultivating tomatoes during this season. However, the crop has been considerably damaged by pests. He further said that repeated cultivation of the same crop has also affected the fertility of the soil, which is connected to the increased activity of pests resulting in considerable damage to the produce.

Another tomato cultivator Niranjan Singh Mehra opined that a ban on various effective pesticides has negatively affected the farmers. Some farmers tried to tackle the pest problem using Neem-based treatment but most farmers were unable to do so. As a result, about 10 to 20 per cent of the farmers in this area were able to benefit from cultivating tomatoes this season while most suffered damage to their crop, he said.

Farmers here said that when the tomato seedlings were planted this season, the maximum temperature was above 23 degrees Celsius which also caused damage to the plants in the initial phase of cultivation. It should be mentioned here that tomato varieties including Shaurya, Abhinav, Arjun hybrid and others are cultivated in the Gaulapar area but all these have been affected considerably by pests this season. The situation is such that tomatoes are being sold for about Rs 50 per kilogramme in the local markets here which has also affected the purchases of the customers.

Source - https://www.pioneeredge.in