NO PULP FICTION

It was not just perceived spike in production that left mango farmers bearing huge losses this year. TNIE finds the sector reeling under an overreliance on pulp industry and systemic issues, which are awaiting govt intervention

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

The summer is past, but the sweat of uneasiness is still dripping from the eyebrows of mango farmers in Tamil Nadu, as the season was different this time around. While the 'king of fruits' entered households in abundance, as it generally does, the mango cultivators, who otherwise remain off the media glare, also entered the drawing rooms, virtually. They caught the attention of the media and thereby those in power, at least briefly, during the peak season in June.

For about two weeks, the media, with its appetite for drama, covered episodes of farmers dumping mangoes in large quantities on the roads in protest and out of desperation, as the pulp-making units, whom they primarily rely on for selling their produce, either did not buy the fruit citing poor demand from up the value chain or offered an abysmal price of ₹1 to ₹5 per kg.

While speaking to TNIE in June, NT Bharat from Paradarami in Vellore pointed to a couple of thousand tonnes of mangoes harvested in the region with no buyer coming forward, saying, "Officials said they will find a proper solution. They do not understand the urgency. Our fruits are already rotting."

K Murugan from Marandahalli in Dharmapuri district said dumping the produce on roadside was a better way to prevent further losses. "We would otherwise have to spend ₹1 per kg for cleaning and transport, besides labour charges for collecting the fruits, at a time when the companies are not even offering us ₹5 per kg," he said.

R Venkatesan of Katpadi in Vellore, meanwhile, had a tractor full of mangoes waiting outside a pulp factory in Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh for a few days, expecting that they would be procured. "The fruits are rotting as we speak. It's heartbreaking," he told TNIE in the third week of June.