Price crash leaves chilli farmers red faced in Hyderabad-Karnataka region

Kalaburagi: Farmers growing red chillies in Hyderabad Karnataka are in distress as their bumper crop has led to a price crash, fetching them merely Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 a quintal as against Rs 12,000 to Rs 13,600 a quintal last year.

“This year, the yield is so high that there are not enough godowns to store the chillies. As a result, many farmers are stocking them on their open fields. But this is very risky as untimely rains could damage them,” said a farmer, Jagannath Reddy, of Deodurga. With the traders unwilling to pay the higher price demanded by the farmers, stocks of chillies are piling up in the open fields in many parts of Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Ballari districts.

Encouraged by the high price of chillies last year, the farmers decided to cultivated it in a big way in the kharif season this year, but have been left shocked by the crash in price, especially as their yield has been high.

“Most farmers have got a bumper crop of around 30 quintals an acre. But last year’s buffer stock coupled with the high yield have led to a steep fall in the price of chillies,” said farmer Sharanabasappa of Manvi taluk in Raichur district.

Karibasappa, a farmer from Kallur village in Manvi taluk, says farmers cannot hope to make a profit if the chillies are sold at the current price due to the high cost of cultivation. “Moreover, the crop is labour intensive as there are no machines to pluck the ripened chillies,” he added.