Latest news with #Bengalura
New Indian Express
07-07-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
As mango season draws to close, prices improve
KANNIYAKUMARI: Mango farmers in the district are pleased as prices are starting to rise even as the season is drawing to a close. According to sources, mango trees are grown in 1158. 064 hectares in Kanniyakumari district. The district deputy director of horticulture, Y Sheela John told TNIE that at the horticulture farm in Palathotttam, 4480 kg of mangoes were harvested generating Rs 2.2L. Last year, only 900 kg were harvested last year season and 4200 kg in the previous year. Popular varieties such as Neelam, Bengalura, Banganapalli, Alphonse,Himahudeen, Jahangeera, Kalapad, Panchavarnam, Rumani, and local varieties such as Panikanadan, Surankudi, Vettaiyan Surankudi were grown in the farm. T Murugan (62), a mango farmer in Thittuvilai said in the yield has been high this compared to the last 6 to 7 years, which has brought down the prices. Murugan, who has taken the Neelam variety trees on lease, said he did not harvest mangoes due to poor price. " As the mango season is drawing to close, the price is increasing. Now I am getting Rs 10 per kg whereas earlier it was much less," he said. A mango trader E Ahilan said farmers sold Neelam variety for Rs 10 -Rs 8 per kg before, but the price has increased to Rs 10 -Rs 12 since Friday. Similarly, Banganapalle variety was sold for Rs 20 per kg earlier, but now the price has increased to around Rs 80. This is because the arrivals is going down, he explained.
The Hindu
17-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Totapuri inflows continue to flood pulp units in undivided Chittoor
The inflow of Totapuri (locally called as 'Bengalura') mangoes continued to flood the fruit processing units in the undivided Chittoor district. Tirupati and Chittoor district administrators are leaving no stone unturned to protect the interests of the local farmers by preventing entry of fruits from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, so that the local yield gets the first priority at the pulp making units. The State government also offered a support price of ₹4 per kg to prevent distress sale. Unlike the season in 2024 that turned out to be a damp squib, the current year witnessed a bumper harvest. However, it turned out to be a problem of plenty for the farmers as well as the fruit pulp units, with the Totapuri produce available everywhere, be it at the Mandis, the ramps (ready-to-move dumping points), and at the procurement points of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). The ubiquitous Totapuri is grown widely across Tirupati, Chittoor and Annamayya, which are part of the erstwhile Chittoor district. In Tirupati district alone, this year's production is expected to be 1.55 lakh metric tonnes from 14,582 hectares for the current season. There are 42 fruit processing units functioning in undivided Chittoor, which is one of the largest in the entire country. Inter-state ban It has been a decades-old practice for the farmers of the neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to supply their yield to these units. However, the government had to impose a ban on inflow of mangoes from outside, citing the glut in the local units. The issue stirred a hornet's nest with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urging his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Nara Chandrababu Naidu to lift the ban. Similarly, farmers from Vellore district of Tamil Nadu dumped their mangoes on the road at Paradarami at the inter-state border, when they were prevented from entering Chittoor district on Monday (June 16). Meanwhile, Tirupati Collector S. Venkateswar advised the farmers to desist from panic harvesting and assured that every mango would be procured.
The Hindu
13-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Totapuri mango farmers fear produce will wither soon if not procured
The woes of mango farmers especially the Totapuri variety keep increasing with no solution in sight. The fruits are ripe and ready for harvest, but with scores of fruit pulp making units across Tirupati and Chittoor districts reluctant for procurement, owing to stock piled up over the last two years, the fruit is likely to wither any moment. Totapuri (locally called 'Bengalura') variety is grown on 50,000 hectares in the undivided Chittoor district and the yield is pegged at a whopping six lakh tonnes this year. At a joint meeting held with mango pulp unit representatives, farmer leaders and 'Mandi' owners recently, district Collectors Sumit Kumar (Chittoor) and S. Venkateswar (Tirupati) announced procurement of mangoes from farmers at ₹12 per kg. After the factories sounded an alarm, the government chipped in with a support price of ₹4/kg, requiring the factories to pay ₹8/kg. The farmers usually dispose the produce by directly supplying to the factories, to the nearest Mandi, at the ramps (one-stop purchase points where the produce is loaded directly into waiting trucks), and at the nearest Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO), who, in turn supply to the factories. The government had deployed officials at the factories, ramps, FPOs and Mandis to take details of the farmers and the quantum of supply. Despite such foolproof measures, the factories have reportedly insisted on a quick-fix solution to the piled up pulp before throwing their gates open to the incoming produce. The agitated farmers on Wednesday (June 11) had staged a protest over the district machinery's inability to implement its orders on mango procurement at Damalacheruvu junction on Chittoor-Kurnool national highway. Meanwhile, some factories had partially opened their gates to purchase mangoes, but at a paltry ₹5 per kg and not the mandatory ₹8/kg. 'At ₹5, we will not get even the cost incurred towards harvesting and transporting the yield to the factories', rued a farmer Goduguchinta Ravindra. While there are ramps that load fruits into waiting trucks bound to northern States, there is lack of clarity on how to secure the farmer's (beneficiary) details and account for this supply. 'If we are paid for supplying to ramps, much stock will be cleared in no time', says B. Dhananjaya Naidu, a mango supplier for three decades.
