Over 50 mango farmers booked for blocking road on TN-AP border

Over 50 mango farmers in Vellore block road with dumped mangoes to protest falling prices.

The Paradarami police near Gudiyatham in Vellore on Wednesday registered cases against over 50 mango farmers for blocking Paradarami - Chittoor Main Road on Tamil Nadu - Andhra Pradesh border by dumping freshly harvested mangoes on the stretch to highlight the steep fall in mango prices for the season.

Police said the agitating farmers were booked under Section 189 (unlawful assembly) under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) to preserve public peace and order. It was on Monday when more than 100 farmers in the region blocked Paradarami - Chittoor Main Road at Paradarami, a border village near Gudiyatham town, to highlight the decline in mango prices in the open market for the season.

The unlawful gathering of farmers on the key stretch blocked traffic movement on the route for more than three hours before revenue officials and the police pacified agitating farmers to take up the issue with District Collector, V.R. Subbulaxmi. Trucks and goods laden lorries got stuck on the route due to dumped mangoes on the stretch. “Unlike previous years, mango production was surplus due to good rains in the region. However, pulp manufacturers, who are major buyers, fix low prices for mangos due to unused stocks,” said G. Chellaiyah, a farmer.

The one-km-stretch is located at Paradarami Extension Reserve Forest (RF) that comes under Gudiyatham forest range on the border. Vehicles heading to key towns like Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Ambur, Arcot, Kancheepuram, Chittoor and Tirupati use the stretch due to lack of traffic congestion. Most essential items and perishables are transported on the route to big towns from neighbouring A.P.

Horticulture officials said that Vellore, Ranipet and Tirupattur districts are known for mango cultivation for generations. Vellore town alone gets at least 1,000 tonnes of mangoes every day for wholesale and retail sale. After local consumption, most of the stocks were sold to fruit pulp factories in Krishnagiri and Chittoor (A.P.) to make packed juice items and other value-added products.

However, farmers said that due to the subsidy of ₹4,000 per tonne provided by the Andhra Pradesh government to its mango cultivators, many pulp factories in Chittoor prefer to buy from local vendors rather than from farmers in Tamil Nadu. Pulp manufacturers offer only ₹five per kilogram as against ₹17-30 depending upon quality in 2024. farmers said.