India addresses soaring tomato prices

NEW DELHI: The Indian government has sought ideas from the public in a bid to curb soaring tomato prices in the South Asian country.

The move comes at a time when tomato prices have touched $1 and above per kilogram. Tomatoes, an essential ingredient in Indian cuisine, were sold at 4 kilograms per US dollar in the country.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has announced Tomato Grand Challenge (TGC) hackathon aimed at addressing the availability and affordability of tomatoes for consumers and ensuring a fair value for tomato farmers.

The entry of participants for the TGC is invited under two tracks.

The first track consists of students, research scholars and faculty members, and the second track comprises industry individuals, Indian startups, micro, small and medium enterprises, and limited liability partnership professionals.

According to the ministry, the challenge has invited innovative ideas across the tomato value chain and winning ideas will be evaluated, developed into prototypes and implemented on a large scale.

Through the challenge, the government also aims to tackle price fluctuations that come from seasonal variations, supply chain disruptions, adverse weather conditions and local production surpluses.

“The cycle of planting and harvesting seasons and variation across regions are primarily responsible for price seasonality in tomato,” the ministry said.

“Apart from the normal price seasonality, temporary supply chain disruptions and crop damage due to adverse weather conditions, etc., often led to sudden spikes in prices.”

Skyrocketing of tomato prices was witnessed last month.

Experts said that with the arrival of the July-November crop season, the tomato prices are likely to go down.

Previously, the government had asked people for their suggestions to curb the price rise of onions. It then received 13 ideas on adding value and controlling prices of onions.