CHENNAI: A sharp decline in demand from the gulf countries, largely owing to the political instability after the Arab uprisings, and fluctuations in prices at the local market, have now resulted in huge loses for mango cultivators and pulp manufacturers in the State. They say that more than 60 per cent of their produce are now lying in the godowns as importers have not turned up.As per the Season and Crop Report of 2008-2009, the latest available, mango was cultivated in 1,30,012 hectares in TN resulting in production of 6,44,626 tonnes of the fruit. The cultivation was concentrated in Krishnagiri, Dindigul, Vellore, Tiruvallur, Dharmapuri and Theni districts constituting 67 per cent of the total cropped area.Industry sources said that this large scale cultivation also meant that a buoyant pulp processing sector developed in these districts with Krishnagiri alone having about 56 such small and medium sized units, exporting lakhs of tonnes of the product.According Rama Gounder, a cultivator from Krishnagiri and general secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, these small and medium scale units take orders from importers in Arab and European countries with a 20 to 30 per cent advance payment.The units in turn pay a small sum as advance to the farmers, over 80,000 in number, and procure the fruit, promising full payment once they get the remaining money from the importers. However, in the 2010-2011 season, the equation was affected as importers from the gulf countries had paid the advance but failed to turn up, resulting in loses of up to 70 per cent and wastage of pulp stocked in warehouses. For example, owners of six agri-processing units in Salem and Theni districts, who spoke to Express on Tuesday, said for manufacturing of every carton of mango pulp weighing 18.6 kg, the production cost involved was around `350, which included the procurement as well as processing cost. If the pulp was based on Alphonso variety, the cost went up to `1,500 as procurement price doubled and touched `1,000. The selling price of each carton of the ordinary mango varieties was around `900 in the last season whereas it had dropped to `450 or `500 in the current season owing to plunge in demand and better crop.One of the processors, holding more than two units in Krishnagiri, said that of the 13,000 tonnes he was supposed to export to gulf countries in the 2010-2011 season, about 8,171 tonnes was left without buyers, each kilogram which would have fetched him close to `25.This also meant that the farmers, who produce around 6,000 kg per hectare, were not paid for the procured fruits as industries were in a credit crunch, resulting in protests by cultivators outside the Collector’s office of Krishnagiri and Theni several times in the last few months.K Raman, who had closed down his mango pulp manufacturing unit after huge loses, said that apart from the decline in demand from the gulf countries, the failure of the crop in 2009-2010 which increased prices by over 50 per cent and rising interest rates for the loans have dealt a double blow.A senior official in the government said that the issue was under the jurisdiction of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority and the State could do little on its own. He said that the farmers and the manufacturers have been asked to make a written representation after which the concerned department here could write a letter to the Food and Agriculture Ministries of Centre.
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