Tomato farmers in the Asante Akim North District are dreading huge losses as tons of tomatoes get rotten on their farms. The farmers lament they are not getting buyers to purchase the glut weeks after harvest. They say the rains have made the situation worse with tracks of tomato farms running into huge post-harvest losses.
The worst affected Tomato growing towns are Agogo Tadieso, Bebome Nkwanta, Ananekrom, Mankala, Aberewapong, and Nyiantokuro. A farmer Kwadwo Biney popularly known in Agogo as Nana Ogibo told Ultimate News, “it’s been three weeks since we made a bumper harvest here but there are no buyers and our tomato is going bad.”
“The rains have made it more serious because the tomatoes are just swelling and bursting up. We produce some of the best Tomato varieties in the country so this is really a problem to us.”
Another farmer Isaac Abroquah expressed concern the obscurity of the location of their farms is a disadvantage to them as many Tomato buyers are unaware of their existence.
He told reporter Ivan Heathcote – Fumador, “We have good roads here but you have to branch off the main Konongo road to get to us. We believe the market women who come here are not also helping because after coming here to buy for cheap, they refuse to tell their competitors they can also get a good bargain here.”
Asante Akim Agogo and its adjoining towns have some five tomato production seasons annually from main, minor to 11th and 12th-month harvests.
By: Ivan Heathcote – Fumador
