The State government plans to procure tomato and onion from the farmers to ensure remunerative prices for them, according to Marketing Minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, the Minister said the government planned to set up tomato processing units/pulp manufacturing units in two or three places in the State. Either sauce or pulp would be manufactured at those units and marketed.
The government would also procure pulses such as Bengal gram and green gram if required. The procured commodities would be utilised at welfare hostels, residential schools, Anganwadis etc. At present, the government was purchasing from the open market to supply these commodities to the hostels etc.
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The services of experts/graduates from IIMs and other institutes would be hired to implement these proposals in the desired fashion. The fine quality pulses would be marketed through renowned firms like Walmart. The idea is to ensure that the farmers would not suffer and it was a win-win situation for both, he said.