Karnataka CM Urges Andhra Pradesh To Lift Totapuri Mango Import Ban

Bengaluru, Jun 12 (KNN) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has formally requested his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu to revoke a recent ban on Totapuri mango imports from other states into Chittoor district.

The prohibition, issued by the Chittoor District Collector on June 7, has affected agricultural trade between the neighboring states.

In his letter to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah characterised the ban as ‘abrupt and unilateral,’ stating that it has disrupted the livelihoods of thousands of mango cultivators in Karnataka.

The Chief Minister expressed particular concern for farmers in border regions who grow Totapuri mangoes in large quantities and have historically relied on processing facilities in Chittoor district.

The Karnataka government highlighted that affected farmers have long-established commercial relationships with Chittoor-based processing and pulp manufacturing units for marketing their produce.

The current trade disruption threatens to result in significant post-harvest losses for these agricultural producers, according to the state administration.

Siddaramaiah noted in his correspondence that multidisciplinary enforcement teams comprising officials from Revenue, Police, Forest, and Marketing Departments have been deployed at interstate checkpoints adjacent to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to implement the import restriction.

The ban applies to all Totapuri mango imports from states outside Andhra Pradesh.

The Karnataka Chief Minister cautioned that unilateral decisions made without prior interstate consultation contravene principles of cooperative federalism.

He warned that such actions could potentially generate unnecessary tensions and prompt retaliatory measures between the states.

Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh separately communicated similar concerns to her Andhra Pradesh counterpart, emphasising that the decision risks triggering retaliatory responses.

She indicated that some stakeholders in Karnataka have already begun advocating for restrictions on vegetable imports from Andhra Pradesh in response to the mango ban.

The Chittoor district administration has not publicly disclosed the specific rationale behind the import prohibition.

Siddaramaiah has called for immediate revocation of the order and urged swift action to restore normal agricultural trade in the interest of farmer welfare across both states.

(KNN Bureau)