In this situation, the video footage of farmers dumping bundles of amaranth on the road due to insufficient price of amaranth in the wholesale vegetable markets is currently circulating on social media. A video of a farmer who spilled amaranth on the roads is also going viral on social media.
In the video, he said that he has spent Rs 30,000 so far on the mung bean crop. He also said, “While the laborers who come to pick the produced onions are paid 300 rupees each, it is only possible to pick the onions and take them to the market if up to 5 people work; If we include everything including the vehicle rental to transport it, if we sell the vendaikai, only 200 rupees will be left over,” he said with pain.
He also says that because the price of amaranth is not enough, he is dumping it on the road so that the goats and cows can eat it. He also demanded that the government should set a fixed price for vegetable crops.
Similarly, a few days ago, they dumped bundles of prunes on the road in Talawadi hill area of Erode district. A 4-month crop of eggplant seedlings, weeding and fertilizer costs up to Rs.80,000 per acre. Last 3 months ago, traders were buying a kilo of eggplant for up to Rs.15. But now a kilo goes for only Rs.3 to Rs.4.
Traders ask for lower prices citing higher yields. Traders buy at low prices and do not even get the original amount spent on the crops. Farmers expressed concern that due to the drop in prices, ripe eggplants are picked and thrown in the garbage.