Perishing’ issue makes farmers go cold

DHARMAPURI: Once again, tomato cultivators resorted to dumping their produce on the roadside. This time, their cause for concern is not a dip in price but insufficient cold storage units in Dharmapuri. The long-pending issue coupled with changing weather patterns, which hastened the ripening process, forced them to express their angst by taking to the streets.

The drought-prone district, accommodating over 50,000 small and large scale tomato farmers, has three government-run cold storage units. And, not even one per cent of this farming community benefits from these facilities.

Highlighting their concerns, a tomato cultivator from Panchapalli, Kannan, told TNIE, “A majority of farmers opt for tomatoes cultivation as it is

easy to grow using drip irrigation. The perishable nature of tomatoes demands proper preservation. So, even if the market price is stable, many farmers incur a loss due to storage issues.”

Blaming the change in weather for adding to their existing woes, Kannan said, “Preserving tomatoes during the North-East monsoon and December was easy. But, a sudden change in the climatic condition hastened the ripening of tomatoes.”

Stable price, unstable situation

Profit is not in question as cultivators here are trying hard to make their ends meet, said another farmer Selvakumar from Nallampalli.

“At Palacode tomato market, one kilogram of the fruit is sold for `16 -`20 per kg. However, we have to bore transportation and labour charges, which leaves us with almost nothing. So, the government machinery should make an effort to set up more refrigeration units and help resolve our issue.”

Long-pending demand

Abreast of the situation, official sources said that farmers have been demanding the construction of large cold storage units in each block.

However, such massive undertaking is not favourable for farmers as tomatoes ripen between six to eight weeks, they said, adding, “Even if such units are built, it is impossible to accommodate all farmers in the district.”

Three units in use

According to a data from the district horticulture department, Dharmapuri has three refrigeration units — one is in Palacode with a capacity of 50 tonnes, another in Harur with 30-tonne capacity and third in Pennagaram with a room for 30 tonnes.

Meanwhile, sources told TNIE that private players are reluctant to set up cold storage units in the district as investing on easily perishable tomatoes might not yield profitable returns.