Karnataka Chief Secretary writes to her Andhra Pradesh counterpart requesting to allow Totapuri mangoes from State
Chief Secretary of Karnataka Shalini Rajneesh has written to her counterpart in Andhra Pradesh requesting him to revoke the ban on entry of Totapuri mango from other States into that State.
With Kolar, the major mango growing district in Karnataka, sharing the border with Andhra Pradesh, mango farmers there are heavily reliant on the processing units in Chittoor.
The Andhra Pradesh government decided to impose this ban to support the Totapuri growers of the State as the production has been more than the capacity of the processing units. It has also declared a support price of ₹4 for a kg of totapuri mango.
Talking to The Hindu, Ms. Rajneesh said, 'I wrote the letter following the protest of farmers in Kolar and the report of the Deputy Commissioner.'
In her letter to K. Vijayanand, Chief Secretary, Andhra Pradesh, she said, 'This abrupt and unilateral restriction has caused significant distress to mango farmers in Karnataka, particularly those in the border districts who cultivate large volumes of Totapuri mangoes and rely heavily on the Chittoor-based processing units for marketing their produce. Disruption of this long-established inter-State trade linkage poses immediate threats to their livelihoods and may result in substantial post-harvest losses.'
She added, 'Beyond the economic hardship to farmers, such a move undermines the spirit of cooperative federalism and risks triggering retaliatory sentiments. There is already apprehension that affected stakeholders in Karnataka may obstruct vegetable inflows from Andhra Pradesh, escalating into unnecessary inter-State tensions, something we must all strive to avoid.'
However, mango farmers from Kolar district said that with the highly reduced quality and quantity of the mango yield this year, taking it to the processing centres does not make much difference.
'We are selling Totapuri at ₹4 a kg (₹4,000 a tonne) while we incur a cost of ₹10-₹12 a kg to grow it. Even if we are allowed to take it to Andhra Pradesh, we will not get any better price,' said Neelaturu Chinnappa Reddy, president of the Kolar District Mango Growers' Association.
Farmers of Kolar, especially Srinivasapur taluk, have been demanding a mango processing unit there for many years. 'It has been our longstanding demand, as the lack of a unit here has made us overly reliant on those in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Government after government has failed to set it up,' Mr. Reddy said.
Farmers in Srinivasapur observed a taluk-level bandh on Wednesday, demanding a support price for mangoes. Due to weather vagaries and diseases, the mango yield has dropped to less than 30% this year, according to farmers.
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