For years now, the farmers of Srinivasapura taluk in Kolar district, the largest producer of mangoes in Asia, have been asking for a mango processing unit in the taluk. While there has been no development on this front, Horticulture Minister S.S. Mallikarjun recently said in the Legislative Assembly that a mango processing unit will be set up in Mulbagal taluk of Kolar.
The Minister said that the government was in the process of identifying a suitable land parcel for the mango processing unit which is being set up by a company called Safal in Jodivammasandra village of Mulbagal taluk. The government provides a subsidy up to ₹50 lakh or 25% of the expenditure to organisations to establish a processing and value addition unit costing around ₹2 crore. It also provides subsidy up to ₹10 lakh or 40% for primary processing unit costing around ₹25 lakh.
“We do not understand why the processing unit is needed in Jodivammasandra, while Srinivasapura is the biggest producer of mangoes. We have the highest potential for mango farming here. There are also several government land parcels and good water facilities in Srinivasapura for the unit to be set up. For some reason, the government has always been neglecting us,” said Neelaturu Chinnappa Reddy, president, Kolar District Mango Growers’ Association.
Mangoes are cultivated on 46,679 hectares in Kolar producing 4,03,884 tonnes of fruit, the highest in the State. This is followed by Ramanagara, where the cultivation area is 26,889 hectares with a produce of 2,45,686 tonnes of mangoes, and Tumakuru with 16,987 hectares of cultivation area and 1,39,711 tonnes of mango production.
Most mango farmers in the State do not remember the last time they had a good year. Due to vagaries of weather and pest attacks, mango farmers have lost up to 70%-80% of their yield in the last few years, which also led to huge financial losses. The farmers thus opine that setting up of these processing units will help them offset these losses in the future as they can convert mangoes into pulp or juice during excess production years and sell it.
Not just Kolar, but the Horticulture Department also has mango processing units coming up in Haveri and Ramanagara. In the Budget of 2022, the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had announced the unit in Hanagal taluk of Haveri district. Over two years later, the department is still in the process of having a feasibility report done for the project under public private partnership (PPP) model.
In Ramanagara, although the project was announced when H.D. Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister, the tender to set up the unit was called in 2022. However, the unit has still not been inaugurated much to the disappointment of farmers.
“The work has been going on for close to three years and now they are saying it will be inaugurated in February 2025. They are yet to install the machinery in the unit. Once it is set up, we can use the unit for juicing and pulping whenever we see a good season again,” said Dharanish Kumar, president, Kanakapura and Channapatna Mango Growers’ Association.
Mr. Kumar also said that the farmers, who suffered losses to the tune of ₹103.33 crore in 2024 due to failed mango crop in Ramanagara district, are yet to receive their compensation from the government. “The mango yield dropped to 10%-12%, but not many farmers have received their compensation yet and we are trying every day,” he said.
Published – December 16, 2024 08:04 pm IST