A farmer depressed for not getting a decent price for cabbage he grew on his farm at Hiregowja in Chikkamagaluru, destroyed the standing crop with the help of a tractor on Monday.
Basavaraj Hiregowja, 62, had grown cabbage on 30 guntas of his two-acre plot, by spending about ₹40,000. He was expecting at least ₹60,000 in return. At the time of cultivation three months ago, cabbage was purchased at ₹300 per bag of 60 kg in the market. However, at present, there were none to purchase cabbage.
“A couple of merchants approached us offering a price of ₹ 30 to 40 per bag. It would be less than a rupee per kg Forget profit, that price would not bring even what we spend on carrying the produce to the market”, said Basavaraj.
His family owned two acres of farmland. Earlier they had an areca plantation on the land. Following successive droughts, the areca plantation remained unproductive for years, forcing the family to cut trees. For the last four years, they are growing ginger, cabbage and other crops.
“As we grew cabbage in the rabi season the investment on water and medicines was high. We were expecting at least ₹ 300 per bag. The yield was around 200 bags and with that, we would have earned ₹60,000”, he said.
Given the prevailing price in the market, his family felt that they would not get back even the transportation cost if they agreed to sell it. Basavaraj ran the tractor on the standing crop so that the yield gets mixed with the soil and act as manure. “Instead of selling the cabbage to merchants, we felt it is profitable to destroy it and convert it into manure. The production cost would be around ₹150 per bag. There is no point in selling it for a lower price”, he added.
