Khachmaz, Azerbaijan – August 18, 2025
A bumper tomato harvest in Khachmaz has turned into a nightmare for local farmers, with truckloads of unsold produce being dumped at landfills. Videos circulating on social media show growers offloading tons of fresh tomatoes, unable to sell them even at rock-bottom prices.
Farmers Driven to Desperation
Growers say that even at 3–5 manats per crate, buyers are turning away. The money they do make barely covers the cost of seeds and agrochemicals—let alone irrigation, labor, or machinery. Desperate to minimize losses, many are hauling their produce to the Caucasus Canning Plant, where tomatoes are purchased at token rates of 3–5 qapiks per kilo. But with limited processing capacity, queues of trucks are piling up outside the factory gates, leaving latecomers with no option but to discard their crop.
Oversupply Meets Poor Planning
This year’s tomato glut is the result of over-planting. Encouraged by last year’s high prices—when a single crate sold for no less than 15 manats—farmers expanded cultivation dramatically. More than 1,000 hectares were planted in Khachmaz alone, with some even converting orchards into tomato fields. The result: an oversupply that collapsed market prices, with premium tomatoes now selling in Khachmaz for as little as 30–40 qapiks per kilo at local markets.
Deputy head of the Khachmaz Executive Authority, Bakhtiyar Osmanov, speaking to Minval, dismissed claims that farmers are deliberately dumping crops. He insisted most are still selling to canneries, though he admitted to having seen video evidence of tomatoes being discarded “for show.”
Calls for Responsibility—and Structural Reform
The crisis highlights the absence of state oversight in agricultural planning. Farmers accuse officials of failing to provide guidance on cultivation volumes, while industry experts argue that without subsidies or guaranteed state purchases, growers are left to bear the full cost of market fluctuations.
Bashir Guliyev, head of the Fruit and Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association, urged consumers to step in: “Instead of just sharing videos online, people should support farmers directly. If every family bought 10 kilos of tomatoes, it would ease the pressure.”
Yet critics argue that what’s truly missing is systemic support. In developed countries, governments step in with subsidies, purchase guarantees, or alternative uses for surplus crops, from supplying social institutions to promoting agri-tourism.
Missed Opportunities
Agricultural experts say that surplus tomatoes could also become a tourism driver. Countries like Spain, Italy, and Turkey have turned tomatoes into cultural brands—hosting festivals, tastings, and “farm-to-table” routes that attract visitors. Khachmaz, with its fertile soil and renowned produce, could follow a similar path—if the government and private sector see the potential.
For now, however, Azerbaijan’s farmers are left with a bitter harvest. What began as a year of promise has ended in losses, waste, and a reminder that abundance without planning can be just as devastating as scarcity.
