Heavy rains and cartel-led price fixing push farmers to protest and give away harvest
Hyderabad: Mango farmers across the state, especially in Warangal, are facing an unprecedented crisis, with prices crashing from over Rs 30,000 per tonne to just Rs 5,000 per tonne — a fall unseen in the last 20 years.
The situation worsened after two heavy spells of rain in the second week of May damaged crops and flooded the market with surplus fruit, causing prices to plunge steeply and remain stagnant since mid-May.
Farmers blame middlemen for the persistently low prices. The frustration culminated in a dramatic protest by 27-year-old tenant farmer Bussa Harish from Illanda village, Wardhannapet mandal, Warangal district.
When Harish brought eight tonnes of mangoes to Laxmipuram Market Yard, traders offered him only Rs 4,000 per tonne. Even at the distressed price of Rs 5,000, he should have received Rs 40,000. Before May 13, his produce could have fetched Rs 2.4 lakh, as the minimum price at the time was Rs 30,000 per tonne.
Harish accused middlemen, mostly from northern states, of forming a cartel that artificially suppresses prices. He revealed that farmers lose 30 per cent of their earnings due to a 10 per cent commission, a 10 per cent “sootu” charge, and another 10 per cent for grading mangoes that are already graded.
Calling this exploitative, Harish lamented that no trader, middleman, or government official has helped farmers overcome this age-old practice.
With no intervention from market officials and no hope of recovering labour and transport costs, Harish took his mangoes from the market yard and distributed them free to people on the roadside, in old age homes, and in orphanages for three consecutive days.
Another farmer, Ellaswamy, said this season marks the worst losses in two decades, with many tenant farmers reluctant to rent mango farms next year. The middlemen’s dominance, combined with heavy rains, has left farmers in despair, he said.
About 300 farmers from several villages staged protests on Tuesday, some emulating Harish in the hope of drawing government attention.
Narottam Reddy from Ramavaram village criticised the failure of eNAM and market yards, saying brokers continue to squeeze farmers. Hanmanthu, a Market Committee member, admitted that middlemen have been cheating farmers, noting that marketing officials have failed to control them in Warangal and its surrounding areas.
