Former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeking that the Centre instruct National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) to procure mangoes under the price deficiency payment (PDP) and market intervention scheme (MIS) to bail out Karnataka’s mango growers who are in distress due to crash in prices of the produce.
In separate, but similarly worded, letters dated June 22, Mr. Gowda brought the plight of mango growers to the knowledge of both Mr. Modi and Mr. Chouhan and said that mango was one of the major horticultural crops in Karnataka, cultivated over an area of 1.39 lakh hectares, particularly in Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Chickballapur, Kolar, and Bengaluru South (formerly Ramanagara) districts, with an estimated production of eight lakh to 10 lakh tonnes during the rabi season.
