Mango price touches new low; farmers seek TN govt intervention

MADURAI: Farmers in parts of Dindigul district expressed concern over the drastic fall in the price of mango, with the price of mango varieties, including ‘Neelam’, ‘Bangalura’, and ‘Senthuram’ grown in Ayakudi, Gopalpatti near Natham, and Andipatti village in Palani taluk touching a new low this year.

Currently, a kilo of ‘Bangalura’ mango variety, which is the most sought after for making beverages, fetches just Rs 4 against its average market price of Rs 12 at the procurement level. The price of ‘Neelam’ halved to Rs 25 a kilo against its average market value. Senthuram variety also came down to Rs 10 per kilo from Rs 30, N Rajathurai, an aggrieved farmer from Andipatti, said on Wednesday.

“Our solution is to either throw away the fruit or end up not harvesting the fruits,” he told DT Next, adding that last year the yield was over 90 per cent, but only 40 percent could be achieved this year due to the impact of climate change.

R Sachithanantham, Dindigul MP, who addressed a letter to Union Minister of Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan, explained the plight of the mango growers due to erratic climate patterns.

Our traditional mango growers had experienced major price spikes up to Rs 18,000 per tonne when the yield was good last year, whereas now, the purchase price is much lower at Rs 4,000 per tonne, he said. The input costs are more when compared with previous years, the price offered is very low, and there is no provision for cold storage, he said.

Now, the farmers are on the streets seeking the government's support to immediately provide market intervention price under PM’s AASHA scheme and to provide cold storage and mango pulp manufacturing units under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), he said.

He said, mango growers of our region await the government initiatives for the compliance of fruit pulp in food beverages as per stipulated norms of 20% by the beverage industry, instead of adding chemicals to beverages, and utilize the FPOs for the benefit of the farmers and consumers. They also call for a strict regulatory mechanism to scrap the syndicate formation by the middlemen and necessary financial support to the farmers for the losses suffered.

Citing these, Sachithanantham hoped that the government’s immediate intervention to provide direct financial assistance, to regulate the falling mango prices, and to build sufficient infrastructure under the MIDH and APEDA schemes would protect the mango yield in this season.