The Centre and Karnataka government have agreed to jointly compensate mango farmers in the state for up to 2.5 lakh tonnes of produce after a sharp decline in market prices, according to an official statement issued on Saturday.The decision was taken during a video conference between Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Karnataka Agriculture Minister N Chaluvaraya Swamy, where the two sides finalised a joint compensation mechanism under a central government scheme.“To address the drop in mango prices, the central and state governments will jointly bear the cost of the price difference and pay that to the farmers,” the Union agriculture ministry said.Union Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi also participated in the meeting.The relief will apply to 25% of the estimated 10 lakh tonnes of mangoes produced in the state this season, the statement said. Karnataka had earlier submitted a formal proposal to the Centre, citing a price crash in both tomatoes and mangoes, particularly the Totapuri variety.However, Swamy informed the Centre that tomato prices had stabilised since the proposal was submitted, and thus, no immediate intervention was needed for tomatoes.“Since farmers were receiving much lower-than-usual prices for Totapuri mangoes, it was decided that the difference in price from the usual market rate would be borne equally by the Centre and state governments,” the ministry said.Swamy thanked Chouhan for approving the move. “This decision will support and provide relief to mango-producing farmers in the state,” he said.
