The Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR) in Varanasi has developed a technique through which potato and tomato can be grown on a single plant and the same is named as 'pomato'.
Pomato was developed last year and IIVR scientists have been trying to further improve the quality and quantity of the same.
They have now succeeded in growing brinjal on the pomato plant and this is aptly called 'Brimato'. Chillies are also being grown on the Brimato plant.
Scientist Dr Anant Kumar said that it had taken five years of research to develop the new multiple varieties.
"Each plant of pomato can yield up to two kilograms of tomatoes and 600 grams of potatoes. The lower layer of soil is for potatoes and the upper layers for tomatoes. Similarly additional layers are used to grow brinjals and chillies. These plants can be grown in pots and are ideal for households."
He said that scientists were working on growing other vegetables like cucumber, gourd and bitter gourd together in one pot.
He further said that for larger cultivation areas, these plants are grafted into the soil but take longer time to be ready for use.
"The brinjal takes about 25 days to get ready to be plucked while tomato takes 22 days," he said.
Berhampur: A day after Odisha Government imposed stock holding limits on potatoes; district administration along with Civil Supplies department officials today conducted raids at different potato godowns in Berhampur.
The raids were carried out in Desi Behera Sahi area and the wholesale market of Bada Bazaar after the officials were informed that these godowns were illegally hoarding potatoes.
The sub-collector and the Civil Supplies department officials were present at the spot during the raids.
"We have raided to know at what rate potatoes are being sold to consumers. Hoarders, black-marketers and profiteers will not be allowed to function," said Civil Supplies department official, Ashok Kumar Mohanty.
Mohanty also said that the wholesalers are bound to provide a price-list to local vendors.
"Everyday these wholesalers must provide a price-list to the local vendors otherwise we will not allow them to sell potatoes in their shops," added Mohanty.
Earlier, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department secretary, Vir Vikram Yadav, in a letter, had asked all district Collectors and Civil Supplies officials to keep a close watch on supply of potatoes in the market and ensure availability of the same to consumers at a reasonable price. The Collectors have also been asked to take action against hoarders and unscrupulous traders under provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
This has forced Odisha government to step up measures to check any kind of abnormal price rise of the kitchen staple commodity well in advance.
“Within three-four months, the prices are expected be to rise to Rs 30-40/kg as a result of crop damage in other parts of the country. Therefore, we have decided to purchase potatoes worth Rs 28-30 crore from National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and keep adequate stock to meet such situation,” the Minister added.
He further informed the Centre has written to all the States saying that potato production might be hampered this year and the prices might go up in October-November.
“The State government has taken measures to safeguard the interest of consumers,” Patro added.
Meanwhile, consumers have already started to feel the pinch of spiralling prices of the tuber in the market.
In Cuttack, three kilos of tuber is being sold at Rs 45 as compared to Rs 10 per kilo few days back.
Similarly, in Aingania wholesale market of Bhubaneswar, the price is hovering at Rs 13-14 per kilo whereas consumers are purchasing at Rs 15 from retail markets.
" If price of potatoes goes up, definitely we will face difficulties,” said Bijaylaxmi a resident of Cuttack.
Expressing similar views, Sunita sahoo from Bhubaneswar said, “Earlier we used purchase potato for one week. But after the price rise, we have to be content with lesser quantity.”
Sources said the minister’s statement on possible potato price hike could trigger illegal hoarding of potato stock in different parts of the State.
Criticising the state government on the issue, senior BJP leader and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the administrative machinery of the state government is gradually coming to a standstill.
“Except some perfunctory action, the BJD government has been hoodwinking the people of Odisha. Isn’t it ridiculous that a government which is in power since 17-18 in the state is not in a position to ensure adequate supply of potato to the people? Instead of taking urgent steps to bail out the consumers, the government will institute a commission of inquiry and the commission will not find any head or tail of the matter. Not only this, the ministers will blame each other over the issue. This is utterly deplorable,” he pointed out.
A day after the allegation made by Cooperation minister Damodar Rout that the callousness of the bureaucrats had resulted in the rise in the price of potato, BJD spokesperson Pratap Jena today said ministers should not look for an escape route by blaming the bureaucrats.
“There has to be a proper coordination among the Agriculture, Cooperation and the Supply departments to regulate the price of potato. We the leaders should not find an escape route by holding the bureaucrats accountable. The ministers should personally take responsibility and find a way to bring down the price of potato”.
Notably, Rout on Friday had told the media that as discussed earlier, he had asked the concerned officials of the registered cooperative societies to operationalise the defunct cold storages.
“Despite my efforts to make them understand the gravity of the situation, they are not in a mood to listen. That’s why I had said that the hindrances are due to the callousness of the bureaucrats,” Rout told OTV on Saturday.
Senior Congress leader and leader of the Opposition, Narasingh Mishra said the Alu (potato) scheme has met the same fate as other programmes of the state government, all of which have failed.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which also released additional 50 lakh tonnes of rice through PDS to give relief to poor.
Stock holding limits, which will be set by state governments, will prohibit individuals from storing onion and potato beyond the prescribed ceiling. The stock holding limits will be in operation for the next one year.
The CCEA has decided to bring onion and potato under the purview of the stock holding limits under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. "With this, we are giving right to state governments to take stern action against hoarding and black marketing," Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.
A notification in this regard will be issued tomorrow.
Onion and potato were under the Essential Commodities Act during the period between 1999 and 2004.
Stating that there are complaints that prices are rising despite adequate supply in the country, Prasad said the CCEA discussed the emerging situation "seriously".
The CCEA also decided to release 5 million tonnes of additional rice to BPL and APL families through public distribution system (PDS) in those states where food security law is not implemented.
The additional rice, which will be over and above the normal PDS allocation, will be released from July to March.
"We have sufficient supply. There is no need to panic. We are taking all possible measures to improve supply and control prices," Prasad said, adding that the government was hopeful that the monsoon rain would improve from next week.
"To safeguard the larger interest of farmers, PepsiCo India was compelled to take judicial recourse to protect its registered variety. PepsiCo from the very start had also offered an amicable settlement to farmers. After discussions with the government, the company has agreed to withdraw cases against farmers...," the company said in a statement.
PepsiCo had sued the nine farmers of Sabarkantha and Aravalli districts of north Gujarat for allegedly growing the FL2027 or FC5 variety of potatoes for which it has claimed Plant Variety Protection (PVP) rights.
It held that it obtained PVP rights over the potato variety under the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right (PPVFR) Act, 2001 and that the farmers were violating its rights over the seed variety.
Crude palm oil (CPO) prices in the domestic futures market have risen by 53 per cent in the past six months due to a decline in palm oil production in Malaysia. Soybean and mustard prices are also witnessing steady rise.
Oilseed market experts say that the price of mustard, soya oil and palm oil is currently at the highest level in India and there is a possibility of further rise in prices in the coming days due to costlier imports from abroad.
According to market sources, the wholesale price of raw mustard in the country was Rs 1,155 per 10 kg on Thursday, while the wholesale price of soya oil was Rs 995-1010 per 10 kg, while that of and palm oil (RBD) was Rs 935-945 per 10 kg.
At the same time, the wholesale price of sunflower oil was Rs 1,180-1,220 per 10 kg.
On Thursday, the CPO on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) gained nearly 2 per cent to Rs 869.70 per 10 kg, while the CPO contract was broken by Rs 567.30 per 10 kg on May 7, 2020. Thus, CPO prices have risen by more than 53 per cent in the last six months.
Ajay Kedia, director of Kedia Advisory, said the fall in palm oil production in Malaysia has led to a rise in prices. He said that in view of the rise in prices of mustard and soybean in the country along with crude palm oil, there is a possibility of further rise in the prices of edible oil in the coming days.
On the other hand, the prices of soybean and soy oil have also gone up in the global market.
Lakshmichand Aggarwal, president of the Central Organisation for Oil Industry and Trade, said that the rise in prices of other edible oils, including palm oil and soy oil, has also affected the mustard oil, while the mustard crop remained low in the last season.
Prices have got support. He said that the increase in prices will increase the interest of farmers in mustard sowing during the current Rabi season.
On Thursday, the Mustard November contract price on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDX), the largest futures market for agricultural products in the country, rose to Rs 6,348 per quintal. At the same time, the November contract of soybean on NCDX rose by Rs 4,339 per quintal.
(IANS)