Other States - Orissa   

Mangoes turn sour for A.P. farmers

Photo: Lingaraj Panda

Mangoes being unloaded at the wholesale market in Berhampur. —

BERHAMPUR: With low prices of mangoes, its taste may be sweeter this year for the public. But it is turning to be sour for mango farmers from Andhra Pradesh, who come to the mango trading center in Berhampur.

At the Berhampur mango market, which happens to be the largest mango wholesale market in the State, the prices of mangoes were too low as per the mango traders and farmers. Moreover, the mango farmers also point out that they had an extra burden this year as the Orissa Government has increased commercial tax on each truck load of mangoes from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,000.

The Berhampur mango market happens to be the transit point for mangoes produced in Andhra Pradesh for states like Orissa, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh. Mango farmers prefer Berhampur as their major trading centre, as it is close to Andhra Pradesh border and has a sizeable population of Telugu speaking people. Telugu happens to be an accepted language in this city, which makes the trading easier for the mango farmers from Andhra Pradesh.

The prices of mangoes in the wholesale market here varies between Re. 1 and Rs. 7 per kg of mangoes. But in the retail market the same are being sold for a slightly higher price.

According to Satyanarayana, a mango farmer from Chipurupalli in Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh, seeing the present price of the mangoes, it is unlikely that the farmers would get major profit for their produce. He expects some increase in the mango prices in Orissa only during June when the mango supply would come down . Moreover, it is also festival time and mangoes are part and parcel of these festivals.

Traders from outside the State like Ashok Kumar from Tata Nagar, who visit Berhampur every year to procure mangoes also feel the mango prices were low this year but they add that the harassment by officials during transportation of mangoes was high in Orissa.

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