Dhaka, Jan. 29 -- Standing on his sprawling 75-bigha (approximately 19 hectares) tomato farmland in Godagari, Rajshahi, Md Ifetkhar Ahmed, a nationally awarded farmer (2007), speaks on a frustrating note.

While his initial harvests fetched a decent price, more than 60 per cent of his tomatoes still remain in fields unsold.

Mr Ahmed cultivated the crop under the supervision of leading agro-processing company - PRAN -- under an agreement to sell the remainder to the company at a market rate after initial harvests.

However, the company has reneged on its commitment, citing rising production costs due to a recent VAT hike on tomato-based products like ketchup and sauce.

"The company earlier assured me of buying all tomatoes, but they stop...