The Department of Consumer Affairs had initiated a hackathon titled ‘Tomato Grand Challenge’ (TGC) by inviting innovative ideas at various levels of the tomato value chain and has decided to fund 28 out of the 1,376 ideas received from innovators across India. Funding would be provided for prototype development and mentorship to reduce wastage of tomatoes, promote multiple uses as well as encourage processing into sauces, purees, pastes, and even wines.
Despite an annual production of 20 MMT (million metric tons) of tomatoes, processing is just 1% of the total production in India, compared to 60-70% in developed countries. This often leads to wastage and prompts imports of processed tomato products from countries like China, United States, and Italy. In 2023, India had imported tomato products worth $11.9 million, and the fresh initiatives aim to eliminate these imports in the long run.
Despite an annual production of 20 MMT (million metric tons) of tomatoes, processing is just 1% of the total production in India, compared to 60-70% in developed countries. This often leads to wastage and prompts imports of processed tomato products from countries like China, United States, and Italy. In 2023, India had imported tomato products worth $11.9 million, and the fresh initiatives aim to eliminate these imports in the long run.
Among the selected ideas, the prototype for valorification of perishable tomatoes for value-added products through fermentation has led to successful development of crystal-clear tomato wine with an overtone of cardamom and cinnamon, like dissert wine. The following are a few selected ideas to address losses in the pre-production, processing, value addition and post-harvest stages:
- Low-cost mobile zero energy cooling chamber unit
- Kanaja Agnishield to reduce post-harvest pest-induced losses
- Devices for enhancing shelf-life of tomatoes post-harvest
- Portable fruit preservation system made up of reinforced mud in a pyramidal structure
- Agrowaste derived green preservatives
- Biopolymers derived from tomato waste as a water-resistant coating for food delivery packaging
- Tomatolixir: Low-cost remedy for foliar pathogens in tomatoes
- Diversified food products from lactic-fermented tomatoes for Indian culinary applications
- Tomato and millet-based multipurpose premix
- Dried tomato edible sheets
- Hybrid photo-catalytic-solar drying technique for food processing of agri-harvest to insta curry
(Edited by : Poonam Behura)
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