HYDERABAD: Efforts of the State government to provide horticulture farmers remunerative prices for their produce has started yielding results in the State. Take the case of mango farmers, who used to struggle to get prices for their produces, but through the government’s intervention and guidance, they were able to command better prices this summer. The farmers, who previously used to get just Rs 14 per kg at the farm gate level, this season got about Rs 40 per kg. This was possible due to the strategies adopted by the officials of food processing, horticulture and other line departments.
Overwhelmed by the mango cultivation, the food processing officials are now planning to adopt similar strategies for papaya, custard apple, sapota, Jamun, guava, lime and orange.
They are identifying areas where these fruits are available in large quantities. “We will be interacting with farmers about the advantage of working with us,” said director of food processing department Akhil Kumar Gawar to Express.
Giving details of the mango experience, Akhil stated that on a pilot basis, they set up a ‘Benishan Farmers Producing Company’, with mango farmers of four districts — Nagarkurnool, Mahabubnagar, Jagtial and Mancherial and started collecting mangoes from farmers. The farmers were trained in mango cultivation by the officials and even provided infrastructure for better yield.
“We provided guidance right from the flowering stage. We provided infrastructure, equipment and other necessary inputs. We even guided them in the right way of ripening the mangoes. This helped them in getting remunerative prices,” stated Akhil.
According to him, they taught the farmers the proper method of de-sapping of mangoes.“Sap cause serious damage to the skin of mangoes reducing its value. Hence, we taught them the proper way of de-sapping. This helped in keep mangoes clean and fresh.” He explained, “We taught them the proper method of ripening of mangoes, this too helped in maintaining the quality of fruits. All this helped in increasing the price of the fruit by over 30 per cent.”
The director stated that the fruits were sorted and graded. “We tied up with companies like Ratnadeep, Reliance and Spencer for supplying mangoes for pulping. The fruits were neatly packed and supplied to these companies.
This helped them in getting a good price,” he said. Motivating the farmers was not an easy task. The officials had to counsel them several times to follow the suggested methods.