Bengaluru, 13 June

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday requested Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shivaraj Singh Chouhan for an urgent Price Deficiency Payment (PDPS) under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for mango farmers in the State.

He intended to draw Chouhan’s attention to the “severe distress” being faced by mango farmers across the State due to a sharp decline in market prices during the current harvest season.

“Mango is one of Karnataka’s major horticultural crops, cultivated over an area of approximately 1.39 lakh hectares with estimated production of 8-10 lakh metric tonne this Rabi season, particularly in Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Chikkaballapura, Kolar, and Bengaluru South districts,” Siddaramaiah said in a letter.

Noting that during the peak harvest months of May to July, heavy market arrivals have led to substantial price fluctuations, he said. Market prices, which earlier hovered around Rs 12,000 per quintal, have now plummeted to as low as Rs 3,000 per quintal, while the Karnataka State Agriculture Price Commission has recommended the cost of cultivation at Rs 5,466 per quintal.

“Necessary directions may also be issued to designated central procurement agencies such as NAFED and NCCF to initiate procurement operations immediately at an appropriate intervention price, ensuring that farmers receive at least the minimum cost of cultivation as a safety net,” he said.

Siddaramaiah had earlier written to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, Chandrababu Naidu, urging him to withdraw the ban on entry of “Totapuri Mangoes” from Karnataka into Chittoor district of his state.