Farmers cheer as red chilli prices boom

Warangal/Khammam: Red chilli farmers in the region have a lot to cheer this season. Thanks to the decline in chilli production in the country and an increase in demand from China and other countries that skyrocketed the price to new heights. It might be noted here that India is the largest exporter of chilli in the world.

With news trickling in that there will be a shortfall in production this year due to inadequate rains and quick disappearance of winter, the price of desi variety has witnessed a meteoric rise since the first arrivals of the crop descended on Warangal and Khammam market yards last week. The farmers are getting anywhere between Rs 3,000 and Rs 6,000 more per quintal compared to previous years.

Albeit the chilli is produced across Karnataka, Maharashtra, MP and other states, the desi variety grown in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the two prime producers of chilli, is much in demand abroad and in domestic market as it was extensively used for food flavoring and coloring besides utilizing in the preparation of chemicals.

On Tuesday, desi variety red chilli, said to be the most sought-after of all kinds, was quoted at a maximum of Rs 16,200 per quintal at the Enumamula Market Yard in Warangal. Last week, the same variety brought Rs 18,000 a quintal to P Sampath, a farmer from Bhupalpally mandal.

The other variety of chilli arrivals at the market – Teja (Rs 11,400 – Rs 8,000 per quintal), Wonder Hot (Rs 12,100 – Rs 8,500), US-341 (Rs 13,100 - Rs 9,000), Deepika (Rs 12,500 - Rs 9,200) and DD (Rs 12,100 – Rs 8,500) - have also got a good price from the traders, who appeared buoyant following the industry reports that there could be a huge shortage of the crop. (Highest and lowest prices in parenthesis).

The Enumamula Market Yard secretary Ajmeera Raju told The Hans India: “The yield in this season may not be equal to that of previous years’. The prevailing dry conditions in the winter could affect the yield of the crop. As a result, the season, which may continue till May, opened on a bright note for farmers.”

Warangal joint director of agriculture (JDA) K Gangaram said: “During the Kharif (2015), the cultivation of chillies in the district dropped to 7,297 hectares against the normal area of 13,620 hectares. The acreage in the ongoing Rabi season is up to the mark with farmers taking up cultivation in 9,051 hectares against the normal area of 10,188 hectares.”

Khammam market yard, the second largest chilli market in the state, Special Grade Secretary P Prasada Rao said that traders on Tuesday offered between Rs 11,800 and Rs 9,500 a quintal to Teja variety. The highest price this season is Rs 12,100 per quintal. During the same period last year, the price was anywhere between Rs 7,000 and Rs 8,000.

The district recorded excess sowing of chilli both in Kharif and Rabi seasons. While the extent of area sown in Kharif is 25,194 hectares against the normal 20,449 hectares, it was 6,366 hectares in Rabi against the normal 6,167 hectares, according to the JDA officials.