Mango Prices Crash to ₹3 Per Kg

Severe distress has hit mango farmers in Melur taluk of Madurai district in Tamil Nadu. The price of ‘Kili Mooku’ (Totapuri) variety has dropped to just ₹3 per kg at the farm gate, while the same mango sells for over ₹40 per kg in retail markets.

Farmers say production cost, maintenance and labour expenses have become much higher than the income. Many have stopped harvesting as even labour wages cannot be recovered. Some have started cutting down their mango orchards due to mounting losses.

A farmer named Jeeva said one acre of mango orchard costs around ₹1 lakh annually to maintain. He demanded a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of at least ₹20 per kg. Farmer organisations have appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to fix MSP and coordinate with pulp and juice industries for better procurement.