Establish Mango Board for welfare of growers: Chittoor MP

Tirupati : Chittoor MP Daggumalla Prasad Rao has urged the Central government to support mango farmers, who are facing severe losses due to natural calamities. He appealed for the establishment of a Mango Board to ensure welfare of mango growers. The MP requested the Union Minister of Agriculture to reduce export duties on mango pulp and facilitate its export to foreign markets.

During the budget discussions in Lok Sabha for 2025-26 fiscal year on Friday, Prasad Rao emphasised the NDA government’s commitment to ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ slogan. He stated that the priority given to agricultural sector in the financial budget reflects the genuine concern of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman towards farmers. Unlike previous years, the budget allocation for agriculture has been increased by 3.89 per cent, focusing on farmer welfare and implementing modern agricultural reforms to strengthen the sector. Highlighting the importance of farmers to society, he pointed out that the Central government, through PM-Kisan scheme launched in 2019, has provided financial assistance of Rs 43.46 lakh crore to 11 crore farmers across the country in 18 installments. He also acknowledged the NDA government’s decision to increase the loan limit of Kisan Credit Cards from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Speaking about mango cultivation in Andhra Pradesh, Prasad Rao mentioned that the crop covers 3.7 lakh hectares, with Krishna, Chittoor, and Godavari districts being major producers. He noted that Totapuri mango is the primary variety grown in the Chittoor parliamentary constituency, and its pulp was mainly exported to Ukraine. However, due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, pulp exports have been severely affected.

Furthermore, he pointed out that European nations have increased import duties on mango pulp compared to African countries, making exports from India financially unviable.

Given this challenge, he urged the Union Agriculture Ministry to take up the issue with European countries and negotiate for a reduction in import duties, bringing them on par with those imposed on African nations.