The Government Funds 28 Innovative Ideas to Address Tomato Price Volatility

The Department of Consumer Affairs has allocated funding to 28 Innovative Ideas as part of the Tomato Grand Challenge initiative, which seeks innovative and cost-effective solutions to minimize crop loss and enhance crop value.

Nidhi Khare, the secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs, stated that implementing these low-cost solutions will be economical, resulting in an extra expense of just Re 1 or 50 paise per kilogram. ‘Even waste will have value,’ she remarked during a press conference held on Friday.

India ranks as the second-largest tomato producer in the world, generating 20 million metric tons each year. However, it processes a mere 1% of this output, in stark contrast to the 60-70% processing rates seen in other countries.

In the previous year, India imported $20 million worth of canned and processed tomatoes, with 70% of these imports coming from China. The government expects that the introduction of new technologies will significantly boost India’s processing capacity, enabling the country to handle 70% of its processing needs domestically.

The government anticipates that this initiative will help stabilize tomato prices, minimize waste, and improve supply chain efficiency.

The department announced that prototypes of these technologies are complete, and the inventor, in collaboration with the government, will now work on scaling the projects.

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