Centre Deploys ICAR Expert Panel to Address Andhra Pradesh's Totapuri Mango Crisis
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has directed ICAR to form a high-level committee of scientists to assess the Totapuri mango crisis in Andhra Pradesh and recommend long-term interventions across the value chain.
The short answer
The Union Agriculture Ministry has tasked ICAR with constituting a high-level expert committee to investigate the severe price decline facing Totapuri mango growers in Andhra Pradesh. The panel, headed by T Damodaran of ICAR–Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow, will examine the full value chain — from cultivation and processing to domestic trade and exports — before submitting recommendations. The move follows a field visit by Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to Andhra Pradesh, where farmers directly flagged the crisis and its impact on their livelihoods.
The Crisis
Totapuri Mango Prices Slide, Farmers Sound the Alarm
Totapuri mango growers in Andhra Pradesh have been grappling with a sharp fall in farm-gate prices in recent months, a situation that farmers say has taken a heavy toll on household incomes. The distress was brought directly to the attention of Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during his recent visit to the State, prompting him to escalate the matter to the country's apex agricultural research body.
The Totapuri variety — widely grown across the Deccan belt and a key raw material for the pulp and processing industry — is particularly vulnerable to price volatility given its dependence on industrial demand and export markets. A softening in either channel can quickly translate into farmyard losses.
The Response
ICAR Directed to Form High-Level Committee with Full Value-Chain Mandate
Responding to farmer feedback, Minister Chouhan has formally asked the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to depute a high-level expert committee to Andhra Pradesh. The council has also been asked to furnish a set of actionable, long-term recommendations to support mango farmers.
The committee's remit is unusually broad: it has been charged with examining the entire Totapuri mango value chain — spanning cultivation practices, post-harvest processing, domestic marketing, trade logistics, and export competitiveness. The aim is to identify suitable interventions that improve farmers' net returns and place the sector on a more sustainable footing, rather than offering piecemeal relief.
The Panel
Three Senior Scientists to Lead Field Assessment
The expert committee will be co-led by three senior horticulture specialists:
- T Damodaran, Director, ICAR–Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow
- M Shankaran, Head, Fruit Crops Division, ICAR–Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru
- D Srinivasa Reddy, Professor, College of Horticulture, Anantharajupeta, Dr YSR Horticultural University, Andhra Pradesh
The committee will include scientists and representatives of relevant institutions. Members are expected to conduct field visits to Totapuri-growing belts in the State, holding direct consultations with farmers, processing industry representatives, and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to build a ground-level picture of the crisis before framing their recommendations.
Why it matters
The formation of a ministerially-directed ICAR committee signals that the Totapuri mango crisis in Andhra Pradesh has escalated to the point of requiring central policy intervention. For mango growers, processors, and Farmer Producer Organisations in the State, the committee's value-chain-wide mandate offers a genuine opportunity to secure structural fixes — not just short-term price relief. Policymakers and agri-businesses should watch the committee's recommendations closely, as they could set the template for how India responds to horticultural price shocks more broadly.
Frequently asked
- Why has the Centre intervened in the Andhra Pradesh mango crisis?
- Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited Andhra Pradesh and heard directly from Totapuri mango farmers that prices have declined sharply in recent months, significantly hurting their incomes. Following that visit, he directed ICAR to constitute an expert committee to assess the crisis and recommend solutions.
- What is the ICAR committee expected to examine?
- The committee has been tasked with a comprehensive review of the Totapuri mango value chain, covering cultivation, processing, domestic marketing, trade, and exports. It will interact with farmers, the processing industry, and Farmer Producer Organisations before submitting recommendations to improve farmer returns on a sustainable basis.
- Who is heading the ICAR expert committee on the Totapuri mango crisis?
- The committee is being led by T Damodaran, Director of ICAR–Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow; M Shankaran, Head of the Fruit Crops Division at ICAR–Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru; and D Srinivasa Reddy, Professor at the College of Horticulture, Anantharajupeta, Dr YSR Horticultural University, Andhra Pradesh.
- What variety of mango is at the centre of the Andhra Pradesh crisis?
- The crisis involves the Totapuri variety, a commercially significant mango widely grown in Andhra Pradesh and heavily used by the pulp and processing industry. Farmers have reported that Totapuri prices have fallen significantly in recent months, adversely affecting their incomes.
Source
This report summarises and analyses coverage from The Hindu BusinessLine — Agri Business. The analysis and India context are IndianAgri's own.