LARKANA: Approximately 70,000 metric tons of tomato is produced annually sown on about 17000 hectares in and around Larkana but Larkana lacks its byproduct industry due to which 20 to 30% is wasted costing extra to the growers.
It was stated by Syed Sirajul Oliya Rashdi, President, Larkana Chamber of Agriculture (LCA) while talking to PPI on Sunday.
Rashdi said that tomato is grown on over 42500 acres in Larkana, Kehar, Mahotta, Naundero, Saidudero, Ratodero, Dokri, Bakrani, Madeji and other nearby villages but when the produce is brought to the market the wholesalers procure it at a very low cost due to which growers suffer huge losses. He said crates are also sent to Quetta, Lahore, Islamabad and other places but even then farmers failed to get proper cost hence they have to undergo losses. He said the cost of pesticides, fertilizers, seeds and labour have been doubled but they got the same old rates resulting in huge losses to the peasants. He said Iranian and even Afghan tomatoes are sold at very high costs but they get very insufficient rates which is forcing the farmers to stop cultivating the variety. He said unavailability of byproduct industries such as pulp or Dryer at Larkana has multiplied their issues. He said tomato ketchup can also be prepared but nobody is ready to invest in this industry due to economic issues and no benefits and encouragement by Sindh Small Industries Estate has been extended. He said that there are vacant plots in the Sindh Small Industrial Estate (SSIE) in Larkana and due to acute mismanagement it has become useless for the investors and no one has so far reached here to establish an industry which is a vivid proof that SSIE has miserably failed to attract industrialists to establish small industries in Larkana which should be thoroughly probed and Sindh Government should come forward and encourage the industrialists.
He said over one lac labour is employed in producing tomato by preparing the lands, sowing seeds, plucking it, sorting, packing, loading and unloading but the rates are never upto the mark. He said 120 trucks are loaded daily from this area for other cities and towns. He said in Punjab tomato is dried through a dryer and used in making many cookings, He said previously he informed Mohtarma Benazir bhutto and then after her untimely assasination to Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari to establish a tomato industry to stop waste and preparing byproducts for which a plot adjacent to Naundero Sugar Mill was procured but nothing came out. He said a crate is being sold at Rs350 in Quetta which is its producing cost hence the grower gets no profit. He said sometimes farmers have to pay from their own pocket when the prices are lowest in the relevant wholesale markets. He said even retailing pushcart vendors are earning more than the producers. He said that the estimated cost of cultivating one acre tomato is Rs225,000.
Rashdi said that tomatoes are low in calories and provide important nutrients like vitamin C and potassium. They’re also rich in antioxidants, one called lycopene, responsible for tomatoes’ characteristic color, is linked to several benefits, such as a reduced risk of heart disease and certain cancers. He said tomatoes are also rich in several minerals and vitamins and helps protect from the ultraviolet rays of the sun. He demanded that the tomato byproduct industry should be established in Larkana on priority basis to save the tillers.
