Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday requested Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shivaraj Singh Chouhan for an urgent Price Deficiency Payment and Market Intervention Scheme for mango farmers in Karnataka.

He has written to the union minister drawing his attention to the “severe distress” being faced by mango farmers across Karnataka due to a sharp and unsustainable 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.

“This sharp mismatch between production costs and market realisations has placed the farming community under acute financial stress,” he added.

Highlighting that thousands of small and marginal mango growers are unable to recover even their basic input costs, leading to widespread protests and growing agrarian anxiety, the CM said unless prompt and effective intervention is undertaken, this crisis may lead to serious socio-economic consequences in the region.

“In view of this grave situation, I earnestly request that immediate steps be taken to implement a Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS) under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for mangoes, as an urgent policy response.

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.

Such a timely intervention will not only help to stabilise prices but also prevent further deepening of rural distress and will ensure that the interests of our farming community are adequately protected during this difficult period, Siddaramaiah pointed out.

“I look forward to your immediate and sympathetic consideration in the larger interest of lakhs of farmers in Karnataka,” he added.

Farmers in Srinivasapura, a major mango growing belt in Kolar district, bordering Andhra Pradesh, held protests and observed a taluk-level bandh on Wednesday, demanding a support price for mangoes and withdrawal of a ban imposed by the neighbouring state.

Siddaramaiah has 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.