Siddaramaiah asks Chandrababu Naidu to lift Andhra's Totapuri mango imports ban

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu, urging him to withdraw the ban on the import of Totapuri mangoes from other states, including Karnataka, into Chittoor district.

The prohibition, reportedly issued by the Chittoor District Collector on June 7, has disrupted the livelihoods of thousands of mango growers in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah wrote in his letter.

Calling the ban “abrupt and unilateral,” Siddaramaiah expressed concern that it had caused “considerable hardship to mango growers in Karnataka, particularly those in the border regions who cultivate Totapuri mangoes in substantial quantities.”

He said the farmers had long depended on linkages with Chittoor-based processing and pulp units to market their produce, and the current disruption threatened “significant post-harvest losses.”

“I understand that multidisciplinary enforcement teams comprising officials from the Revenue, Police, Forest and Marketing Departments have been deployed at the inter-State check-posts adjoining Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to implement this directive,” Siddaramaiah noted in his letter.

The Karnataka Chief Minister warned that such decisions, made without prior consultation, were against the spirit of cooperative federalism. “Actions of this nature, taken without prior consultation or coordination, run contrary to the spirit of cooperative federalism. I am also concerned that this may lead to avoidable tension and retaliatory measures,” he wrote.

He urged Naidu to intervene and ensure the immediate revocation of the order. “I trust that you will treat this issue with the seriousness it warrants, and take swift steps to restore the seamless movement of agricultural produce in the interest of farmer welfare,” Siddaramaiah added.

Separately, Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh earlier wrote to her Andhra Pradesh counterpart echoing the Chief Minister’s concerns. She warned that the decision risked “triggering retaliatory sentiments,” adding that some stakeholders in Karnataka had already begun calling for restrictions on vegetable inflows from Andhra Pradesh.

The Chittoor district administration has not publicly stated specific reasons for the ban, which applies to all Totapuri mango imports from outside Andhra Pradesh.