Pepper sales in full swing within AP’s agency areas

Visakhapatnam:Tribal farmers in the agency areas of Andhra Pradesh are currently busy selling pepper, which is grown on approximately 30,000 acres of the total 2 lakh acres of coffee plantations in the region.

Farmers are collecting pepper pods from the long silver oak trees and bringing them to the weekly markets at different places in the agency. Traders from Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Karnataka and Kolkata are buying pepper from these markets and transporting it to their domestic markets for sales.

According to Spices Board of India field officer B. Kalyani, pepper sales will continue for another three weeks.

Pepper is a climbing plant that grows intertwined with tall silver oak trees that provide shade in coffee plantations. This arrangement enables tribal farmers to earn additional income from pepper without much extra investment on their coffee plantation.

Officials estimate that tribal farmers earn between ₹30,000–₹40,000 per year from one acre of coffee plantation.

Pepper prices in the agency have been favourable for the last three years. Sale of pepper, which usually begins at the end of January, had got delayed as pepper prices had been rising at the time. Farmers preferred to wait. They started bringing their produce to the market when the price reached ₹550 last week, the same as last year.

On Saturday, pepper price had been between ₹560 and ₹570 a kg. Farmers are expecting that the price will increase further.

The price of pepper within the agency had been ₹400–₹450 in 2023. In 2024, it increased to ₹510–₹550.

Tribal farmers in the agency are optimistic about pepper fetching them good returns this year, contributing to the economy of the agency region.