In July 2023, mango farmers in the undivided Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh had just wrapped up their harvest. The yield was dismally low, but the growers had faith in the demand-supply equation, certain that a crunch would push up the prices.
When the time came for them to sell their produce, the dozen or so pulp-making units in the region, one of the farmers’ main customers, proposed their procurement price: ₹6 a kg, said to be the lowest in the history of mango trade in Chittoor.
Bewildered, the farmers, some staring at certain financial ruin, sought government intervention. Consequently, the price was slightly raised to ₹9 a kg, still a far cry from the remuneration the farmers had counted on.
Pushed further, the pulp-makers threw up their hands, saying they could not afford to offer any higher prices, for they were sitting on huge stocks from the pandemic years.
Sixty-year-old K. Mani, a farmer from Mandipeta Kotur in Palamaner mandal who had to endure that tough year, says the farmers would not have had to take up such gambles had there been a Mango Board on the lines of the Tobacco Board. “Only such a board can stabilise the prices, save us from exploitation and cushion our losses,” he adds.
Mr. Mani is one of the 40,000-odd mango growers, large and small, in the undivided Chittoor district, one of the most important mango cultivation belts in India and especially famous for the ‘Thothapuri’ variety of mangoes.
On a trip at the end of winter through the highways and the rural roads meandering the region, one can feast their eyes on mango orchards swaying in full bloom.
The crop has become part of the region’s cultural identity. During ‘Ugadi’, which heralds the mango blossom, its leaves adorn thresholds of houses, and tender mangoes are turned into the famous ‘Ugadi Pacchadi’.
According to the Horticulture Department, the region has about 1.7 lakh hectare under mango cultivation, capable of producing 12 lakh tonnes of mango annually, which is considered a benchmark by the growers to calculate the annual yield.
“Over the past 15 years, however, the yield hardly crossed 30%. In 2024, it slipped to just 20%,” says 28-year-old Janardhan, who looks after mango orchards at Irala mandal. “The mango business in Chittoor has the potential to make over ₹3,000 crore in annual turnover,” he adds.
But, myriad problems such as expanding real estate, lack of a minimum support price (MSP), disunity among growers and human-animal conflict keep mango farming in the region stunted.
A rich history
The origin of mango cultivation in Rayalaseema, especially in Chittoor, is said to date back to the early Satavahana period of the second century BCE. The crop enjoyed the patronage of the Vijayanagara rulers, too. Mango orchards were said to have been raised in the surroundings of forts, temples and palaces. Even today, mango trees dot the vicinity of the Chandragiri Fort and the Penukonda Fort, built during the heyday of the Vijayanagara Empire.
The British, from the mid-19th century, viewed mango, along with sugarcane, as one of the best commercial goods from India, exporting them to London and encouraging its cultivation on the foothills of the Himalayas and the deltas of Ganga and Brahmaputra, albeit with limited success. The humid but arid region of Chittoor remained supreme in delivering bumper crops and continues to be so, say farmers.
Real estate boom
In the eastern parts of the undivided Chittoor district, mango orchards face the threat of expanding real estate layouts, particularly on the outskirts of Nagari, Puttur, Chittoor, Palamaner, Punganur and Madanapalle.
This, along with massive highway undertakings and a tepid agricultural sector, is pushing mango orchards to the verge of disappearance from the vicinity of urban and semi-urban areas in the region, say Horticulture officials.
Beast of a problem
Large swathes of land under mango cultivation abut the Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary, spread over Palamaner and Kuppam forest ranges and extend as far as Irala, Tavanampalle and Puthalapattu mandals.
Many farmers face raids by elephants emerging from the wildlife sanctuary and the forests in Tamil Nadu. During peak mango season, from May to July, elephant raids become the order of the day in the region, wreaking havoc on the crop, say the officials.
The human-animal conflict claims lives on both sides. In October 2019, the carcasses of two tuskers were exhumed at a mango orchard near Irala, 30 km from Chittoor, after they were reportedly buried clandestinely following the animals’ electrocution. In 2024, two farmers died in elephant attacks in Chittoor’s mango orchards.
The absence of night vigils over fear of elephant attacks lures thieves as well, exacerbating the losses.
According to K. Subramani (60), a mango farmer from Palamaner, wild elephants raiding the orchards has been a problem for them for the past 25 years. “Though the Forest Department claims to have installed solar fences and elephant trenches along the forest fringes, it has not helped us much, he says.
“Though the Forest Department claims to have installed solar fences and elephant trenches along the forest fringes, it has not helped us much”K. Subramani A mango farmer from Palamaner
According to some farmers, many of these trenches, each over six feet in depth and width, have not been maintained, leading to silt build-up. This allows elephant herds to cross these trenches and enter human habitat. Also, farmers say the elephants often pull out the fences or find gaps between them to make their way onto the orchards.
When contacted, a senior Forest official, seeking anonymity, said there was a plan to create a 250-km long elephant trench along the Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary. As for solar fences, a stretch of over 100 km had been fenced off by 2022, and steps were afoot to strengthen the system.
Lack of coordination
Mr. Subramanyam believes that a Mango Board could get the Forest Department enough funds to execute works on preventing elephant raids or could come up with a solution on its own. “This can even usher in a mango revolution in the region,” he says.
Deputy Director (Horticulture) D. Madhusudhan Reddy agrees that a Mango Board is indeed essential for the farmers. “We have submitted proposals to the authorities [Ministry of Commerce] for a Mango Board in Chittoor. The District Collector, too, reviewed the circumstances and requirements surrounding the need for such a board,” he says.
Though mango is a horticulture crop, it also requires the services of the departments of Agriculture, Marketing, Revenue, Forest and Commercial taxes as well as discoms, making coordination an absolute necessity, he adds.
“The absence of remunerative prices for the produce remains a major problem. The marketing facilities are poor, and they are forced to depend on private entities,” he points out.
Mr. Madhusudhan says that a Mango Board can work like a single-window system. “On the lines of the Tobacco Board, the Mango Board will look after the entire spectrum of the trade, from lab to land, exports and general transportation. Farmers will start getting fair prices for their produce, and mango cultivation will improve dramatically,” he adds.
Knowledge is money
A major hurdle faced by mango growers in exporting their produce is a lack of understanding of the import rules in different countries.
According to Horticulture officials, Singapore, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries mandate that mangoes coming on their shores must be washed in hot water. In Japan, however, the mangoes should compulsorily be ‘irradiated’, the technology for which is not available in Andhra Pradesh. For this, farmers from the Chittoor region go to Malur in Karnataka, which leads to additional expenditure in transportation and laboratory procedures.
“Owing to a supply shortage from India, the American mango market depends on Mexico and Peru”Badri Narayan Owner of a small-scale mango pickle business in the U.S.
The West, on the other hand, has completely different cleaning and packaging rules for imported mangoes. Badri Narayan (27), a Hyderabad-based youth settled in Texas, the U.S., and running a small-scale mango pickle business, says there is great demand for the Alphonso, Kesar and Benisha varieties of mangoes in that country. “Owing to a supply shortage from India, the American mango market depends on Mexico and Peru,” he says.
Critical needs
Mango growers want the Board to constitute MSP for their produce and introduce insurance cover, crop subsidies and pest and disease management.
Despite the efforts of several associations of mango growers, insurance cover for their crops continues to elude the farmers. During times of low yields, as was the case in 2024, many farmers suffered. Such predicaments would hamstring their ability to invest in the venture for several years, says Kothur Babu, president of Chittoor District Mango Producers Association.
There is still hope
Eighty-five-year-old N.C. Ramachandra Reddy, former president of Chittoor District Mango Merchants Association and considered a doyen in Rayalaseema’s mango trade, says that mango cultivation in the region can achieve its potential. “We are expecting a yield of 60% this year, despite reports of delayed flowering,” he said.
“It’s a prestige to be a mango farmer. Several youths, who are now doctors and software professionals, are showing interest in horticulture, particularly mango cultivation. When our neighbouring Anantapur district can become a horticulture hub, why can’t Chittoor?” He asked.
