A sharp decline in market prices has pushed mango growers in the state into dire straits. The crisis worsens with every passing day as they are unable to recover even the input costs. While their patience is wearing thin, the state government is approaching the Centre for compensation. It is unclear how things will pan out in the coming days.
In Karnataka, mango is one of the major horticultural crops, cultivated on approximately 1.39 lakh hectares. Supply chain disruptions have impacted the livelihoods of lakhs of farmers across several districts. A combination of factors – heavy rains impacting fruit quality, pest infestations, increased input costs, insufficient processing units, and restrictions imposed by Andhra Pradesh on the movement of mangoes – seems to have contributed to the current crisis.
This is not the first time that mango growers have faced such a situation. In 2018, farmers in Kolar district – which grows around 10 lakh tonnes on 50,000 hectares – faced a similar plight. Unfortunately, that did not wake up the authorities to take long-term measures to develop enough processing units.
Farmers continue to depend on pulp industries in neighbouring states Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Andhra Pradesh’s ban on entry of mangoes from other states hurt farmers in Kolar the most. Prices of Totapuri variety dropped from Rs 5,000 per tonne to around Rs 2,000 per tonne. In Kolar, Totapuri, a large green fruit used in the pulp industry, accounts for around 70 percent of the crop, while the remaining table varieties include Dasheri, Badami (also known as “Alphonso of Karnataka”), Mallika, and Banganpalli.
Even Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who expressed concerns over the AP government’s move, admitted that Karnataka farmers depend heavily on industries in the neighbouring state. “This abrupt and unilateral move has caused considerable hardship to mango growers in Karnataka, particularly those in the border regions who cultivate Totapuri mangoes in substantial quantities. These farmers have long relied on the robust linkages with Chittoor-based processing and pulp extraction units for marketing their produce,” the CM stated in his letter to AP CM Chandrababu Naidu.
The government estimates that the disruption in the supply chain will directly impact the “livelihoods of thousands of farmers” in the state. However, mango growers in Kolar put that number much higher at around 2 lakh in the district alone. Among others, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, and Bengaluru Rural are the major districts for mango cultivation.
It’s baffling why the government, which is aware of the farmers’ dependence on processing and pulp extraction units in other states, failed to ensure the establishment of such facilities in Karnataka. Is the government finding it so difficult to attract processing units to the district, which is hardly a 90-minute drive from Bengaluru? When AP can do it, why not Karnataka? The government must address issues of red-tapism, if any, and also provide incentives to investors to develop the region into a food processing hub.
There are only three to four processing units in the district, which needs over 20 such units, says Chinnappa Reddy, president of the Kolar district mango growers association. He is leading the agitation for a support price of Rs 15,000/tonne. Reddy says that after protesting for over 17 days, they feel let down by the state government, which needs to act fast as delayed assistance would be futile. Many farmers have even left fruits to rot on trees as they would not recover transportation costs. They anxiously wait for financial assistance from the government.
The need for setting up more processing units in the region was said to have been discussed in the Karnataka Regional Imbalance Redressal Committee (KRIRC) meeting. Hopefully, the committee that is expected to submit its report in October, will drive home the urgency of the issue at hand.
Dr AB Patil, President of the Institution of Agricultural Technologists [IAT], suggests that the present crisis could be resolved by promoting government policies on strengthening post-harvest technologies, marketing, and exports.
It also warrants a closer look at the functioning of food parks, steps to boost exports, storage facilities, and other measures to increase farmers’ income. The problems faced by cultivators of grapes, lemons, and other horticulture produce also need to be addressed. Although these may appear to be issues confined to certain parts of the state, they are reflective of a bigger problem.
Every crisis has its lesson and solution. Unless prompt action is followed by sustained efforts, farmers in the state will continue to suffer episodically, while it is going to be business as usual for the powers that be.