Vellore Mango Farmers Protest in Baratharami Village After Prices Crash to Rs 3000

Mango farmers in Baratharami village in Vellore district have staged protests and dumped their produce on the streets after a severe crash in mango prices left them facing heavy financial losses during the current harvest season. The protesting farmers have appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to intervene by providing subsidies and banning the import of mangoes from neighboring states.

The crisis has intensified as open market prices for mangoes plummeted to Rs 3,000 per tonne. Farmers stated that this price is entirely unsustainable compared to the cultivation costs, which average Rs 50,000 per acre.

According to the protesters, mango production saw a significant increase this year across several villages in Vellore district. However, the district lacks any local industrial facilities to process the fruit into mango pulp.

In previous years, Vellore farmers routinely transported and sold their mango harvest to pulp factories located in Andhra Pradesh. This trade route has been completely blocked this season because the Andhra Pradesh government has implemented a ban on purchasing mangoes from other states.

The protesting farmers in Baratharami village scattered their mangoes across the road to register their anger. They pointed out that the Andhra Pradesh government actively supports its own mango farmers by providing subsidies, and they urged the Tamil Nadu government to implement similar protective measures.

Additionally, the farmers expressed frustration over unfulfilled political promises. They noted that the previous government had promised to take concrete measures to protect mango farmers in Vellore last year, but no action was ultimately taken to resolve their issues.

To protect their livelihoods from the market crash, the farmers are demanding that the Tamil Nadu government immediately match the subsidies provided by Andhra Pradesh and ban the entry of mangoes from the neighboring state into local markets.