The state government will offer financial assistance to Maharashtra’s mango and cashew growers for crop losses due to changes in weather conditions. Mango, or crucially Alphanso, and cashew are two premier cash crops that flourish in the coastal Konkan region.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis made the statement on Tuesday after a review meeting with ruling party legislators from the Konkan region. In the meeting, additional chief secretary (agriculture) Vikas Chandra Rastogi underscored that sudden weather changes have affected the two crops on a large scale this year.

A recent survey, by district officers of agriculture department and a team of experts from Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth in Dapoli, indicated that erratic weather conditions caused 45% mango crop losses in Palghar district and 90% in Sindhudurg district. Similar surveys of cashew plantations in Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri have been completed, while the study to map its produce in Raigad, Palghar and Thane is ongoing.

Welcoming the government’s move, Vivek Bhide, president of the Konkan Mango Growers and Sellers’ Association, said, “Mango and cashew growers were badly affected this year due to massive crop loss. We gave our representations to the local leaders in Konkan. We welcome the chief minister’s decision and will wait to hear about the details of financial assistance.”

Vivek Bargir, a cashew farmer from Ratnagiri who also owns a processing unit, said: “While we welcome the government’s assistance, I would urge it to involve experts from the agriculture institute in Dapoli to visit the fields during the season to understand the problems of cashew growers. We suffered a lot due to intermittent insect infestation this year.”

According to data from the agriculture department, all varieties of mango in Maharashtra are produced in 167,000 hectares, of which 123,000 hectares fall in the Konkan region. In Konkan, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts are considered major Alphonso growing areas with 68,550 hectares under the mango crop in Ratnagiri and 34,760 hectares in Sindhudurg. Average Alphonso production in these two districts is 225,760 tonnes annually. Mango is also grown in Thane, Palghar and Raigad over 26,089 hectares, although not the famous Alphonso variety. In 2025 Maharashtra exported 20,173 tonnes of mangoes.

Cashew crop is grown in around 175,000 hectares in Konkan; 75% of the area is located in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. Konkan produces around 300,000 metric tons of cashew annually.

“In Sindhudurg, mango loss is around 85% to 90% and in Ratnagiri, it’s around 80% to 90 %. In Raigad, 70% to 80% of the mango crop is lost, while in Thane the loss is around 60% and in Palghar around 45%,” said Rastogi. He added that the cashew loss was in the range of 60% to 70 % in Sindhudurg and 50% in Ratnagiri.

In the meeting, Fadnavis assured legislators that he would discuss the issue with deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, and other ministers, following which the state government would announce financial assistance to farmers before the end of the state legislature’s budget session.

Source - https://www.msn.com