The Mango Farmers’ Crisis in Undivided Chittoor District
CPI Demands structural Reforms and Price Protections for Sustainable Cultivation
Communist Party of India, Andhra Pradesh state secretary Gujjula Eswaraiah urged the UPA government in Andhra Pradesh to save Thothapuri mango farmers who were left in lurch due to lackh of price to the produce one side and taxes and exploitation of companies and middlemen on other side. He said that over 70,000 farmers cultivate mangoes across approximately 2.75 lakh hectares in the undivided Chittoor district. Along with the farmers, around 4 lakh laborers, transport workers, and hamalis (loaders) directly and indirectly depend on this sector for their livelihood.
Production and Yield Realities
Eswaraiah wrote a letter to Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu demanding to solve the mango farmers issue on war-footing manner. He said that the Thothapuri variety total expected Yield is 7.75 lakh tonnes instead of five lakh tonnes of preliminary estimation. Currently, while the investment cost per acre has crossed Rs 25,000, the actual yield has plummeted to just 2 to 2.5 tonnes per acre. Given the current market prices, farmers are facing a grim situation where they cannot even recover their basic investment.
Pulp Industry Operations & Syndicate Exploitation
CPI secretary said that out of the 64 mango pulp industries in the district, only 42 are systematically operational. Although the current season has commenced, not even half of them have opened. As a result, farmers are suffering severely, left stranded without knowing where to sell their produce. Furthermore, a heavy 32% tax imposed on mango pulp exports has already forced nearly 20 processing units to shut down. The remaining operational industries are shifting this tax burden onto the farmers by arbitrarily slashing procurement prices. Traders in the market have formed a syndicate, blatantly exploiting the hard work of the farmers.
Traders are buying the Totapuri variety from farmers at a meager Rs 5,000 per tonne
They then transport the same mangoes to factories and sell them at ₹6,500 per tonne, pocketing an effortless profit of Rs 1,500 per tonne without any physical labor. Additionally, illegal commissions are being extorted from farmers, leading to a net loss of nearly Rs 2,000 per tonne for the grower. Last year, even though the price was fixed at Rs 12 per kg (Factories: Rs 8, Government subsidy: Rs 4), many factories violated the regulations. Factories that purchased under this agreement further cheated the farmers by delaying payments.
Charter of Demands for Immediate Government Intervention
Eswaraiah demanded the government to ensure that the hard labor of our farmers does not go down the drain and to save their families from starvation, we demand that the state government take the factions immediately including declaration of Minimum Support Price (MSP) officially declare of Rs 18,000 per tonne for the Totapuri variety and Rs 25,000 per tonne for the Banganapalli variety. Legal orders must be issued prohibiting traders and factories from purchasing below these rates. He said that establishment of a Mango Board to provide permanent protection, structured marketing, and export supervision for mango farmers, a dedicated “Mango Board” must be set up with adequate fund allocations.
“Continuously implement a “Free Crop Insurance Scheme” to fully safeguard mango growers from natural calamities and pest infestations and the state government must take stringent legal action against middlemen, syndicate mandi traders, and pulp factories that violate regulations and exploit farmers. The government should rationalize the heavy tax burden on the processing industries and facilitate the reopening of the 20 closed pulp units to accelerate local procurement.The government and the authorities to listen to the cries of 70,000 mango-growing families and the 4 lakh dependents in the undivided Chittoor district, and take immediate, appropriate action to resolve these issues”, Eswaraiah said.
Principal Correspondent, Prime Post
CS Kulasekhar Reddy had thirty five years experience in journalism. He worked in Udayam and Andhra Bhoomi as reporter and sub-editor. He highlighted various social issues in Chitthoor, Ananthpur, Kadapa and Kurnool districts. He covered assembly sessions and Secretariat happenings.
