AZE.US
Azerbaijani tomato growers are increasingly being forced to sell their produce at a loss as prices fall in Russia, transportation costs rise and greenhouse production becomes more expensive.
Agriculture expert Vahid Maharramov said the physical volume of tomato exports has increased, but official revenue figures do not fully reflect the financial pressure facing farmers and exporters.
According to customs calculations for the first half of 2026, the average export price of Azerbaijani tomatoes was around 2 manats per kilogram, or about $1.20.
Maharramov noted that tomatoes were selling for 7 to 8 manats per kilogram in Baku during the winter months, while even lower retail prices were generally around 4 to 5 manats. Prices of 2 manats per kilogram were rarely seen in the domestic market.
The situation worsened in June after tomato prices fell sharply in Moscow, Azerbaijan’s main export market.
Maharramov said Azerbaijani exporters were selling a six-kilogram box of tomatoes in Moscow for about 350 rubles. That amount was roughly equal to the cost of transporting one box from Azerbaijan’s Shamkir district to the Russian capital.
Once packaging, local transportation, fuel, greenhouse production and labor costs were included, farmers were effectively selling their products without earning a profit.
“In practice, producers were selling tomatoes at a loss,” Maharramov said.
He pointed to Duyarli village in the Shamkir district, where residents have grown tomatoes since the mid-1990s. Many local producers, he said, make a profit one year and suffer losses the next.
Most have no other stable source of income.
The number of tomato growers has declined in recent years as farmers increasingly conclude that losing money for an entire season in the hope of recovering the following year is not economically sustainable.
Some have moved into other sectors, while others have left for Baku or Russia in search of different work.
Transportation costs are also rising.
Maharramov said the cost of sending a 20-ton truck to Russia increased by about 850 manats, or $500, compared with last year.
Diesel fuel shortages and logistical disruptions in Russia have created additional problems. Delays can prevent tomatoes from reaching markets on time, causing the produce to spoil and leaving exporters with further losses.
Greenhouse farming is also becoming more expensive because of rising energy, fertilizer, packaging and labor costs.
According to Maharramov, producers who grow and export tomatoes during a few winter months can still earn relatively strong returns. Profitability, however, falls sharply during the rest of the year.
Official figures showing large inflows of foreign currency may appear positive, he said, but they do not show how much farmers actually retain after expenses.
“The overall situation of tomato producers is far from encouraging,” Maharramov said.
AZE.US