DHARMAPURI: Tomato farmers in Dharmapuri urged the horticulture department to create small companies which would create value-added products. Farmers also stated that, by offering proper training, loans and good seedlings, people could start cottage industries which would both generate employment and improve prices.
In Dharmapuri district, tomatoes are annually cultivated in an area of over 6000 hectares. Due to the large-scale production, farmers do not get better returns and it is common for farmers to dump tonnes of tomatoes along the road every year due to low prices.
To ensure such situations do not occur in future, the farmers demand that the horticulture department train them in making value-added products like sauce and jam.
Further, they demanded the creation of Farmers Producer Organization (FPO) and to provide loans to start cottage industries.
Speaking to TNIE, M Annadurai, a farmer from Pappireddipatti said, “This year rains have been poor and tomatoes are easier to manage during the drought-like situation. So in the the upcoming months, a majority of farmers will start cultivating tomatoes. When production increases, the prices would naturally fall. In Dharmapuri at least once a year, one kg of tomatoes is sold for only one 1 or 2."
"To avoid this situation, we need value-added products like jams, and sauce to be made locally to ensure there is a high demand," he added.
Another farmer G Krishnan from Morappur said, “Right now in the Salem markets one kg is sold at Rs 30 to Rs 40, but in Dharmapuri, it is sold at Rs 23 per kg. Earlier this year when tomatoes were sold for up to Rs 125 per kg in cities like Chennai, we got only up to Rs 40 per kg."
"The administration must offer special training to create VAP, further FPOs must be produced and loans must be provided to create businesses. This will ensure that even during the off seasons we will have demand causing stable prices”, he said.
Dharmapuri tomato not suitable for sauce or jam: Official
Deputy Director of Horticulture, Fathima said, “This is not feasible. Usually, a special variety of tomatoes is required to make sauce, jam and other value-added products. In Dharmapuri, the variety cultivated is largely for daily household needs, and this variety is not suitable for making sauce or jams. Moreover, another reason this is not feasible, farmers have admitted they would only use tomatoes for value-added products when the pricing is poor. It is not practical to create a company that would only function for few weeks every year, no one would take up such a trade”, she said.