Press Information Bureau

Union Minister for Agriculture, Farmers’ Welfare, and Rural Development, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has provided significant relief to mango farmers in Karnataka who have been troubled by steadily falling prices. To address the drop in mango prices, the Central and State governments will jointly bear the cost of the price difference and pay that to the farmers. The decision was taken today during a video conference between Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Karnataka Agriculture Minister Shri N. Chaluvaraya Swamy. Union Agriculture Secretary Shri Devesh Chaturvedi also participated in the virtual meeting.

During the discussions, both ministers agreed to compensate farmers for the price difference on 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of mangoes. Previously, the Karnataka government had submitted a proposal to the Government of India, stating that prices for tomatoes and mangoes — particularly the Totapuri variety — had been falling steadily. As part of today’s meeting, discussions were held on providing compensation for up to 2.5 lakh metric tonnes out of Karnataka’s estimated total mango production of 10 lakh metric tonnes. Since farmers were receiving much lower-than-usual prices for Totapuri mangoes, it was decided in the virtual meeting that the difference in price from the usual market rate would be borne equally by the Central and State governments under a central government scheme.

During the discussions, Karnataka’s Agriculture Minister noted that while tomato prices were low at the time the proposal was submitted, prices have now stabilised, so no immediate action is needed for tomatoes.

Minister Shri Chaluvaraya Swamy thanked Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh for taking this decision to support and provide relief to mango-producing farmers in Karnataka.

******

PSF/KSR/AR

 

(Release ID: 2138573) Visitor Counter : 2