Mango farmers protest against low procurement prices offered by pulp industries in Chittoor

Mango farmers in the Chittoor district took to a protest demanding the State-mandated minimum support price (MSP) of ₹12 per kg for the Totapuri variety of mangoes, on Saturday.

The protest, spearheaded by the Rythu Sangham and the Mango Growers’ Welfare Association, was held in front of the District Collectorate here on the International Yoga Day, in a bid to draw the attention of the district administration to low procurement prices offered by pulp industries.

Though the farmers gathered at the venue and were about to perform yoga with banners reading ‘Mango Farmers’ Yoga Day’ as a mark of protest, some senior officials persuaded them to withdraw their move. Following this, the farmers limited the protest by holding their banners to display their dissent. A senior official said that several farmers who gathered for the protest were elderly and not accustomed to the yoga practice. “Performing yoga postures without a proper dress code at a public venue, that too without prior practice, would be unpleasant. Hence, we pursued with the organisers to drop the idea,” he said.

Later, appealing to District Collector Sumit Kumar, the farmers deplored that several pulp units were paying only ₹6 per kg, and some ramp operators a mere ₹3 per kg, despite the government’s instructions to provide ₹8 per kg. They said that the officials had failed to enforce price regulations, which allowed the exploitation of farmers by the pulp units and middlemen.

Responding to the protest, the Collector invited the farmers to his chamber and held discussions on the issue. He assured them that action would be taken against pulp units violating the norms. He added that the price details would be mandatorily included in the slips at the crushing units.