BENGALURU: The effects of climate change and prolonged heat spells are not just seen in people’s choices and their ways of life, but even on their plates. Every year, consumers complain of a rise in tomato prices, up to Rs 300/Kg. There are also days when the prices of tomatoes drop to even 50 paise/Kg. At both extremes, consumers and farmers suffer. Now to address the issue, scientists from Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra (GKVK), and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) are collaborating to come up with a new variety of tomatoes that are weather-- and disease-resistant, withstanding high day temperatures and low night temperatures.
“We are working on a new climate-resilient and pest-resilient variety. We are working on strengthening farmers with new research techniques. We are also looking at Public Private Partnership (PPP) models in the coming days,” said Dr Maheswarappa HP, Director of Research at the University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot. The same has been discussed with farmers at the recently held tomato conference organized by GKVK, where they showed keen interest in procuring the new hybrid seeds for cultivation.
A scientist from ICAR- IIHR explained to The New Indian Express that often when day temperatures rise over 30 degrees Celsius and fall below 21 degrees Celsius at night, flowers drop, affecting overall tomato production. “So we are trying to develop a new variety which will withstand a temperature of up to 38 degrees Celsius and even lower than 18 degrees Celsius at night. Heat tolerance is a major concern,” the scientist said, adding that taste will not be affected.
The number of days when tomato prices are high is increasing by the year. There has been a rise in the number of sunny days and a reduction in rainy days. Farmers are aware of this as they suffer the most. The cost of current hybrid seeds is around Rs 300- 400 per 10 grams, so for an acre, a farmer needs around 20 grams of seeds.
Farmers welcome hybrid seed varieties when it comes to vegetables unlike in the case of mangoes or rice. The vegetable market is not customer preference driven, the GKVK scientist explained. Researchers explained that while Karnataka has a large tomato market, Madhya Pradesh is the largest. Large areas are also under cultivation in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, each growing different varieties in clusters. But this new climate-resilient variety will be beneficial to farmers across India.