Amaranatha hints at setting up of Mango Board to help farmers

Chittoor: Industries minister N Amaranatha Reddy said the state government was looking at all possibilities to set up Mango Board to sort out the problems of mango farmers in the state. “Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is very particular to protecting the interest of farmers.

The proposal for constituting Mango Board  is to be approved by the Cabinet,” he added while addressing a gathering at a mango pulp processing unit at GD Nellore, 10 km from here on Monday. 

The minister made this remarks in response to several representations from mango farmers in the district. It may be recalled that the state government had constituted  Tobacco Board earlier in the state in order to protect the interest of tobacco  farmers of  Prakasam  and Guntur districts.

Amaranatha Reddy assured the farmers that the Chief Minister would take a decision over the formation of  Mango Board shortly as many mango farmers had been seeking the same for a long time.

He said on the occasion that the TDP government in the state announced the support price to mango, first in the country, to ensure farmers remunerative price for their crop.

As many as 19,862  mango farmers in Chittoor district were given a Rs 27 crore subsidy,” he added. He said following the footsteps of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka government too announced support price to mango for their farmers.

The minister revealed that a meeting would be convened soon with mango farmers, processing units and the officials concerned to arrive at a consensus on facing future challenges.