The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has directed measures to strengthen the Totapuri mango value chain after complaints of falling incomes and mandi prices in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The issue is important for UPSC because it combines agricultural marketing, horticulture, food processing and farm-income stability.

A high-level review meeting was held at Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi on the basis of a report prepared by a high-level expert committee under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The committee had visited fields, mandis and pulp-making units and examined the full value chain from farm to processing to market.

Background and earlier position

Totapuri mango farmers had been facing falling prices because processing factories and markets were not coordinating purchases in time, especially at the start of the season when fresh produce reached mandis and processing units at the same time. The Union government’s intervention responds to a structural agricultural marketing problem rather than a one-off price fluctuation.

The expert committee was constituted on 2 July 2026. Its members included scientists from ICAR–CISH and ICAR–IIHR, experts from Dr. YSR Horticultural University and officials from the State Horticulture Department. The committee conducted field visits to Tirupati and Chittoor districts during 8–10 July 2026 and met farmers, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), mandi representatives, pulp-making units, exporters and district administration.

What changed now

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