The government is providing money to 28 entrepreneurs to deal with the volatility of tomato prices
To address the sharp volatility in tomato prices, the Center has provided funding to 28 innovators under the ‘Tomato Grand Challenge’ hackathon to improve supply chain and processing standards. The government will now enable these founders to develop their business by connecting them with investors and companies.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare on Friday said that the ‘Tomato Grand Challenge’ (TGC) hackathon was launched in June last year to invite new ideas at various levels of the tomato value chain to ensure its availability to consumers at affordable prices and help tomato farmers to acquire. product value.
The TGC was created by the Department of Consumer Affairs in collaboration with the Department of Education (Innovation Cell).
“There is a big fluctuation in the prices of tomatoes. The prices increase a lot because of more rains, heat and insect attacks,” said Khare, adding that there are at least 2-3 times a year of sudden price increases up to 100 cents.
He pointed out that prices sometimes drop too much, which affects the income of farmers.
Khare stressed that there is a need to strengthen the supply chain, reduce pre- and post-harvest losses and increase the level of processing to bring stability to prices for the benefit of consumers and farmers.
India produces 20 million tons of tomatoes per year.
“We received 1,376 ideas from the founders and of those 423 were sorted in the first stage and 28 ideas were finally funded,” said Khare.
These 28 inventors were awarded funding for prototype development and training.
These ideas were sought under two categories– (i) students, research scholars and faculty members and (ii) individual industrialists, Indian startups, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP), professionals.
These ideas have been tested and almost all have established startups. They will be trained on how to pitch their novel ideas in front of investors and large companies.
When asked about the way forward, Khare said that the Department is going to arrest these start-up companies to help them meet investors and other companies to grow their businesses.
The secretary said that the motivation to deal with the volatility in the price of tomatoes came from the success achieved by the country in providing milk, which is something that is running out.
Khare talked about some of the new ideas including making wine from tomatoes.
“We have good ideas. We will help them face the problem of price volatility,” he said.
According to the official statement, the projects are monitored from time to time, periodically visited, and reviewed by the TGC Evaluation Committee of AICTE and the department.
Multiple rounds of expert panel evaluation culminated in a final evaluation on October 14-15, 2024, where projects were judged on their relevance, scalability, and innovation.
TGC has created significant impact, resulting in numerous IP filings, including 14 patents, 4 design/trademark registrations and 10 publications.
The outcome of this hackathon includes, “the development of new packaging and transportation solutions to improve shelf life and reduce post-harvest losses; the creation of processed products that extend usability, reduce wastage and ensure year-round availability”.
Tomatoes are produced in almost all states of India, although in varying amounts.
The highest production is in the South and West regions of India, which contribute about 60 percent to India’s output. These regions being surface regions, serve other markets depending on the production seasons.
The production seasons are also different in every region.
Peak harvest time occurs from December to February. The periods between July-August and October-November are the months of tomato production. July which coincides with the monsoon season, adds to other challenges related to distribution and loss of transportation which adds to the price increase.
