Demand for Mango Development Board in Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: The AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (APCCIF) have urged the state government to set up a dedicated Mango Development Board.

APCCIF has urged the government to focus on encouraging overall development of mango crop cultivation, post-harvest management and developing varieties characterised by high yields. It has plans to provide parallel employment to the agriculture labour, in case these two boards are set up.

AP stands to be top in our country with a strong foundation in horticulture with the second largest producer of fruits in the country. Mango and banana are two important crops, which generate substantial revenue to farmers through domestic consumption as well as exports to other countries. However, farmers are not getting remunerative price for the produce since processing varieties are not grown, according to APCCIF president Muthavarapu Murali-krishna and general secretary Potluri Bhaskar Rao.

Andhra Pradesh is the largest mango growing state contributing 14.8 per cent to country’s total production. Mango is cultivated over 4,97,000 hectares with a production of 25,22,000 MT annually. Mango is grown extensively in Krishna, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, West Godavari, East Godavari and Kadapa districts.

The most preferred varieties are Banganapalle, Rasalu (juice), Totapuri and Manjeera. Export of mangos is made to West Asia, South Africa, Europe and North America. The export turnover is roughly Rs 1,700 crore annually.

Despite topping in mango production in the country, when it comes to yield per acre, Andhra Pradesh is ranked fifth due to supply chain constraints, failure to adopt advanced farming technologies and poor quality of seeds.

Mango is highly perishable. It ripens fast during summer and becomes inconsumable very soon. As per an estimate about 30-35 per cent of mango is lost in harvest and post- harvest phase.

There are many problems in mango production, processing, marketing, transportation, storage and export facilities. To address all these issues, there is an urgent need for a dedicated Mango Development Board to encourage the overall development of mango crop cultivation, post-harvest management, developing varieties good for processing characterized by high yield and more pulp.