Centre, Karnataka govt to share price gap relief for mango farmers
In a major relief to mango farmers in Karnataka, the Centre and the state government have agreed to jointly bear the cost of the price difference being faced by producers due to a sharp fall in market rates. The decision was announced following a video conference held on Saturday between Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Karnataka Agriculture Minister N Chaluvaraya Swamy.
As part of the agreement, both governments will compensate farmers for the price gap on up to 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of mangoes. The financial support will be extended under a central government scheme and shared equally by the Union and state governments.
The move came after the Karnataka government submitted a proposal to the Centre, highlighting the steady decline in prices of both tomatoes and mangoes – especially the Totapuri variety.
Union Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi also participated in the virtual meeting. During the discussion, Minister Chaluvaraya Swamy noted that while tomato prices were also a concern earlier, they have since stabilised and do not require immediate intervention.
'The decision to provide this relief will greatly help mango farmers who have been struggling due to low market prices,' Chaluvaraya Swamy said, thanking the Union minister for his support.
Officials said details regarding the implementation mechanism, including how the differential price will be calculated and disbursed, will be announced soon.
On Thursday, the state cabinet resolved to urge the Centre for greater support, flagging crises in major mango-producing regions such as Kolar and Chikkaballapura.
The Karnataka government has been facing the heat of mango growers of Chikkaballapura and Kolar districts, who have been demanding a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per quintal for their produce.
The prices crashed due to the ban on the 'Totapuri' variety of Karnataka mangoes in Andhra Pradesh for having more water content.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had written twice – once to Union Agriculture Minister Chouhan requesting implementation of the Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS) and Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), and once to Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu urging the rollback of AP's ban on Karnataka Totapuri mangoes entering Chittoor. The letter highlighted plummeting prices (from Rs 12,000 to Rs 3,000 per quintal) versus cultivation costs (Rs 5,466 per quintal).
Andhra Pradesh's import ban on Totapuri mangoes had stranded Karnataka produce at the border, cutting access to processing units and amplifying the price slump. Farmers were demanding an MSP and immediate state intervention as lorry-loads remained blocked.
On Tuesday, Janata Dal (Secular) MLAs Samruddhi Manjunath and Venkatashiva Reddy staged a dharna at the Gandhi statue on the premises of Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru to protest against the government for 'ignoring' the demands of mango farmers.
In Srinivasapura under Kolar district, farmers also dumped tonnes of mangoes on roads to protest against the slump in prices.
A mango trader in Srinivasapura died reportedly from a heart attack after suffering heavy losses. He had invested Rs 30 lakh in produce, which dropped in value due to the ban and market slump.
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