CPM State Secretary V. Srinivasa Rao has written a letter to Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, requesting him to take specific steps to help mango farmers through the crisis. He said that the main center of mango cultivation in the state is the joint Chittoor district, where farmers are cultivating the Totapuri variety on about one lakh acres.
He lamented that farmers, especially those growing the Totapuri (Bengaluru) variety of mangoes, have been in loss for the last four years. This year, he said due to favorable weather, the mango crop yield is promising. With the increase in mango production, the owners of mango pulp industries have formed a syndicate and tried to exploit the mango farmers by limiting the purchase price of mangoes to Rs. 2-3 per kg, he added.
The CPM leader said that orders given from the government to give the mango farmers a price of Rs. 12 per kg, of which the state government would give Rs. 4 as subsidy and the owners of mango pulp industries would provide the remaining Rs. 8 per kg, have not been implemented at all.
He accused that the owners of mango pulp industries have formed a syndicate and are not buying more than Rs. 4 per kg. Srinivasa Rao lamented that the owners of mango pulp industries are drowning the farmers. Therefore, he said that to protect farmers from monopoly, the state government should intervene directly through marketing agencies and purchase.
He requests that a special mechanism be set up to implement the promises you have made. The CPM leader recalled that Karnataka has convinced the central government to purchase 2.50 lakh tonnes from the center at Rs. 16 per kg under the market intervention scheme.
He urged CM Chandrababu, using his influence at the center, to convince the central government to purchase at Rs. 16 per kg and raise at least Rs. 500 crore to support the mango farmers in Karnataka. He also requested that steps be taken so that the subsidy amount given by the central government is directly received by the farmers, not in the accounts of the industries.