Farmers dump mangoes onstreets after prices crash
Bengaluru/Kolar: Protests erupted in Srinivaspura–India's Mango Capital – located 90 km from Bengaluru, Wednesday following a sudden crash in mango prices. With the king of fruits commanding little respect in the market, distraught farmers across Kolar district took to the streets, demanding a support price and withdrawal of the ban imposed by the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on Karnataka mangoes.
The growers poured several quintals of mangoes on the streets and staged a protest.
Fighting the vagaries of weather that cast a dark spell on mango production, the farmers were hopeful of recovering their expenses with whatever was left on the trees. However, with the crash in mango prices, both the farmers and traders incurred losses. "At the beginning of the season, we were dismayed by the delayed flowering and subsequently the crop was debilitated due to the extreme heat, and now the early onset of monsoon has wreaked havoc across the region.
Not much is left for us to take home," bemoaned Ravishankar Reddy, a mango farmer in Srinivaspur taluk.
With the crop cultivated over 45,000 hectares of area, Kolar supplies more than half of Karnataka's mangoes, and Srinivasapura, with over 35 varieties of the fruit, is known as India's mango capital. But unlike previous years, the prices of mangoes dropped to as low as Rs 3,000-4,000 per tonne.
"It used to be around Rs 10,000-12,000 per tonne all these years during this time of the season.
In the retail market, 1 kg of mango is sold for Rs 8-10 now! With nearly 40% of the crop awaiting harvest, the price crash has pushed farmers to the wall," lamented Bayya Reddy, another farmer.
With a similar situation unfolding in Andhra Pradesh, the border districts of that state refused to allow the transportation of mangoes from Karnataka. This added to the woes of Karnataka farmers, forcing them to shut down the entire taluk Wednesday demanding stability in market prices and free trade across borders.
The day-long bandh by the Srinivaspur Mango Growers Association evoked a total response, with all establishments remaining completely closed throughout the day.
"The mango market at Srinivaspur gets about 900-1,000 tonnes of mangoes every day, with the demand lasting till July. But this season, there are hardly any takers due to a lack of demand in both Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where mango pulp processing industries thrive," explained Munishamappa, a farmer from Kolar.
"The mango season in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh begins after the harvest in Kolar. However, most of the pulp processing factories in these states did not even use 50% of their stock last year due to a drop in exports, triggered by a steep rise in air cargo charges. Similar is the situation in Srinivaspur taluk. This has affected the overall purchase of mangoes. Besides, the quality of mangoes has also taken a hit this year due to the early onset of monsoon," explained a technical officer of the Karnataka State Mango Board.
Sensing the farmers' anguish, Kolar deputy commissioner MR Ravi held a meeting with the farmers and promised them that the district administration would persuade pulp processing units to purchase mangoes, besides exploring other options to stabilise prices in the market. Kolar MP Muniswamy also urged the state govt to announce a minimum support price for mangoes in Karnataka.
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Box:
Govt may announce MSP
Horticulture minister SS Mallikarjun acknowledged the crisis across the mango belt of Karnataka and said he discussed the issue with chief minister Siddaramaiah. "We have asked the CM to announce a minimum support price for mangoes. But this would require additional funds, and the finance department headed by the CM must approve our proposal. Currently, the MSP for mangoes is around Rs 3 per kg, and the govt may increase it by Rs 1-2 over the next few days," Mallikarjun said.
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