BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written a letter to Union Minister for Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan for price deficiency payment and market intervention scheme for mango farmers in Karnataka.
In his letter, Siddaramaiah has said that this year price of mangoes has come down from Rs 12,000 to Rs 3,000 per quintal. The Karnataka State Agriculture Price Commission has recommended Rs 5,466 per quintal. He demanded the central government to intervene and implement Price Deficiency Payment scheme (It’s a direct payment to farmers for the price difference between MSP and market price). He said this sharp mismatch between production costs and market realisations has placed the farming communities under acute financial stress.
The CM said mango is one of Karnataka’s major horticultural crops, cultivated over 1.38 lakh hectares with production of 8-10 lakh tones grown in Bengaluru rural, Bengaluru urban, Chikkaballapura, Kolar and other parts of the state.
“I am writing to draw your immediate and personal attention to the severe distress being faced by mango farmers across Karnataka to a sharp and unsustainable decline in market prices during the current harvest season,” he said.
The CM said that thousands of small and marginal mango growers are unable to recover even their basic input costs, leading to widespread protests and growing agrarian anxiety. “Unless prompt and effective intervention is undertaken, this crisis may lead to serious socio-economic consequences in the region,” he said.
The CM also urged Chouhan to issue necessary directions to designated central procurement agencies to initiate procurement operations at an appropriate intervention price, ensuring that farmers receive at least the minimum cost of cultivation as a safety net.