As the full-fledged procurement season has gathered momentum, farmers across the mango-rich belt of Chittoor, Tirupati, and Annamayya districts in Rayalaseema region fear that a deepening crisis triggered by pre-monsoon gales, hailstorms, and severely depressed market prices might dampen their prospects.

Strong winds and hailstorms over the past couple of weeks have caused extensive loss in mango orchards, particularly affecting the dominant Totapuri variety, the prime target of the pulp-processing industries.

Farmers are collecting the fallen fruit and transporting it to private trading centres and market ramps. However, they deplore that they are being offered a paltry ₹2 per kg. Even healthy, harvest-ready mangoes are reportedly fetching no more than ₹5 per kg.

Farmers fear a repeat of last year’s predicament, which witnessed prices crashing below ₹4 per kg, while hundreds of farmers queued outside pulp factories with tractor and lorry loads, leading to traffic congestion on highways and widespread distress in mango-growing villages.

“We cannot survive at these prices. Considering the expenditure on orchard maintenance, labour, irrigation, crop protection, and transport, farmers need at least ₹12-₹15 per kg for Totapuri mangoes to break even,” said Kothur Babu, president the Chittoor Mango Producers’ Associations.

Last year, pulp manufacturers informed the district administration that they were burdened with more than two lakh tonnes of unsold pulp due to weak export demand. Procurement prices were consequently fixed around ₹4 per kg, prompting the State government to intervene with an additional incentive of ₹4 per kg to provide relief to growers.

During March and April, representatives of the pulp factories claimed a blockade of exports to the Gulf and European countries, and reported a stalemate in the clearance of transactions worth over ₹1,000 crore due to the West Asia crisis.

This season, farmer leaders counter the industry’s claims, noting that the carryover stock is reportedly only a few thousand tonnes. They argue that the current market conditions do not justify another collapse in procurement prices. Now, the mango harvest is spread over 3 lakh acres in the combined Chittoor district.

A team of officials who inspected the factories recently maintained that procurement activity remains sluggish, with only about 30% of the 46 pulp factories operating on a limited scale despite the season having commenced. The district administration is said to be closely monitoring the situation and in touch with industry stakeholders.

Meanwhile, farmer organisations have urged the district administration to announce a remunerative support price before full-scale procurement begins, pleading that lakhs of mango growers could face severe financial hardship if prices remain at current levels.