Mango Board proposed

Chittoor: District Collector P S Pradyumna said a feasibility report was submitted to the state government for setting up a Mango Board in the district. Speaking to the media here on Wednesday, the Collector stressed on the need for setting up a Mango Board for the benefit of mango growers.

To protect the interest of mango growers, a meeting with progressive mango farmers and mango pulp processing units would be convened shortly, he stated, instructing the officials of the Horticulture department not to distribute saplings of Totapuri to the farmers. He gave a call to farmers to adopt alternative cropping pattern to earn remunerative price for their produce.

The Collector thanked Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for declaring support price of Rs 7.50 per kg to Totapuri mangoes. “Karnataka government also extended support price for their mango growers after the AP government had announced it,” he stated.

Pradyumna mentioned more than 23 pulp processing units have purchased 7.09 lakh metric tonnes of Totapuri mangoes worth Rs 81 crore from July 4 to 31 in which Rs 21 crore subsidy amount was remitted to the processing units. As the mango farmers faced a crisis, Pradyumna informed the media an action plan was submitted to the Chief Minister for purchasing Totapuri mangoes from farmers through pulp processing units.