Mango 'crisis' hits Karnataka farmers, Siddaramaiah seeks Centre's help to stabilise prices

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has asked Union Minister for Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan to intervene and “help stabilize prices” of mango due to 'severe distress' that farmers are facing.

“During the peak harvest months of May to July, heavy market arrivals have led to substantial price fluctuations,” Siddaramaiah pointed out in a letter to Chouhan. “Market prices, which earlier hovered around Rs 12,000 per quintal, have now plummeted to as low as Rs 3,000 per quintal,” he stated.

Siddaramaiah stated that thousands of small and marginal mango growers are unable to recover even their basic input costs. This has led to widespread protests and growing agrarian anxiety, Siddaramaiah wrote, adding that if “prompt action” is not taken, then the “crisis may lead to serious socio-economic consequences”.

Mango is one of Karnataka’s major horticultural crops cultivated on approximately 1.39 lakh hectares with an estimated production of 8-10 lakh metric tonnes this Rabi season, particularly in Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Chikballapur, Kolar and Bengaluru South districts, Siddaramaiah stated.

While the per-quintal price has fallen to Rs 3,000, the Karnataka State Agriculture Price Commission has recommended the cost of cultivation at Rs 5,466 per quintal. “This sharp mismatch between production costs and market realizations has placed the farming community under acute financial stress,” Siddaramaiah stated.

Siddaramaiah urged Chouhan to implement a Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS) under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for mango “as an urgent policy response”.

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India (NCCF) should initiate immediate procurement operations at an appropriate intervention price “ensuring that farmers receive at least the minimum cost of cultivation as a safety net”, Siddaramaiah stated.

Earlier this week, Siddaramaiah wrote to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu asking him to revoke an order issued by the Chittoor district administration banning the entry of Totapuri mangoes from Karnataka.

The Andhra Pradesh government claims that farmers from Karnataka were selling their produce for just Rs 5 per kg to processing units in Chittoor as against Rs 8 fixed by the Naidu administration.