Not A Sweet Bargain

The price of the totapuri mango has crashed due to low demand for its pulp, leaving farmers to dump produce on roads

- Gram Mohan

MANGO CULTIVATORS of Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh’s Rayalseema region have been badly affected this season. The prices of the king of fruits have crashed in the district, which along with the bordering areas of Nellore and Kadapa, is a major global mango producing region. Most farmers here grow the totapuri variety, which has high demand in the international market for its pulp. According to the horticulture department officials, the estimated yield this year is about 40 percent less as a result of unseasonal rains. But more than the low produce, what’s worrying farmers is that pulp industries are not receptive in lifting stocks.

Distressed cultivators, many of whom ditched other crops in favour of mango due to surging interest in horticulture and government subsidy, have hit the streets and at many places dumped their produce on the roads to protest against prices dipping as low as ₹4.5 for a kg. This has come as a shocker as in the month of May this year, mangoes sold at ₹ 12 a kg, and last year, the prices stood at ₹ 20 per kg. To tide over the crisis, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced in the first week of July that pulp-making industries would have to pay a minimum support price of ₹ 7.50 per kg to the mango growers, out of which the government will offer ₹ 2.50 directly to the farmers. The move has brought cheer to about 60,000 farmers. Pulp factory owners have also been asked to lift produce from the district and not take orders from outside.

Slump in demand