Tomato growers in Dharmapuri can make use of the mobile pulp extraction machines for value addition of tomatoes, in times of price slump.
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The district has about 2460 acres under tomato cultivation. In a bid to protect farmers from price fluctuations and to enable value addition in times of excess produce and non-remunerative prices, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare through the National Agriculture Extension Project has introduced mobile pulp extraction units.
According to the administration, the district has been allotted two tomato pulp extraction machines at a cumulative cost of ₹ 80 lakh. Of the two, one machine has been leased for a three year period to Marutham Farmers Producer Company in Palacodde and another has been rented out to the neighbouring Krishnagiri district.
The Marutham Farmers Producer Company functioning in and around Thandukaranahalli panchayat and neighbouring panchayats in Palacodde is run with 450 farmers, according to the administration. It is a food processing company engaged in the extraction of pulp used in the manufacture of jams, sauce etc.
Earlier, Collector S.Dhivyadarshini inspected the mobile tomato pulp extraction machine at Kadagathur under the Department Agricultural Engineering.