KURNOOL/NELLORE: The plight of red chilli farmers in Kurnool district is no better than those in Guntur. The farmers at the Kurnool Agriculture Market Yard are waiting for buyers keeping their produce in heaps. Buyers are not showing any interest to lift the stocks as farmers are not coming forward for distress sale as yet.
Last year, the price offered to farmers was about `13,000 but this year the price has fallen to an all-time low of `1,500 to `2,000 per quintal. The farmers are caught in a bind as they cannot resort to distress sale or they cannot take it back either as they do not know what do with the produce.
R Ramakrishna Reddy, a buyer at Kurnool Market Yard said: “We would have purchased chilli at a better price but the quality is very poor.” He was not sure if the government would pay them subsidy later. We were taken for a ride in the past. The government announced subsidy for onion last year but till date the arrears have not been cleared.”
“Let the government first clear the arrears. Then we will purchase chilli,” he added. Farmers at their wit’s end G Venkateswarlu, a farmer from Remata village said that he had raised chilli in five acres by investing huge amount borrowed from money lenders.
After harvesting, he had brought the crop to the market yard but there are no buyers there. He says, “To some extent, what the buyers say is true. The quality of chilli we have is poor this time compared to last year as there has been drought in the district for the last three years. There is no groundwater and whatever water we could strike is alkaline and not fit for watering the crop.”
“We are forced to throw away the crop in the garbage as we are not even recovering the money spent on transportation from the farm to the market yard in Kurnool,” K Venkataramudu, a farmer from Guduru village stated. He urged the government to help them out by buying their produce or else they are forced to commit suicide.
“Every day, we are hearing news about farmer suicides from droughthit regions. However, with red chilli prices touching new low, farmers like me may be meeting the same fate,” Venkataramudu lamented. Kurnool agriculture market yard secretary A Narayana Murthy said that they will start a special counter to purchase red chilli under subsidy price scheme.
“Already the government has announced the subsidy scheme and we are waiting for orders. The quality of red chilli is being sold at a minimum rate of `500 per quintal and maximum of `3,000 per quintal, at present, in wholesale market,” he added. In Nellore too, problem is same.
The mirchi farmers in the district are literally in tears because of the market fluctuations. Though the area of cultivation had increased when compared to the last year, green chillie farmers in upland areas are a distressed lot due to steep fall in prices.
On the other hand, red chilli farmers are flooding the Guntur Mirchi Yard to sell their produce at remunerative prices. Farmers buoyed by profits in the previous year, increased area under cultivation in the district. Majority of the farmers in upland mandals such as Vinjamur, Kaligiri, Kondapuram, Jaladanki, Duttalur, Varikuntapadu, Udayagiri and Seetharamapuram had cultivated red chillie. According to sources, 1,150 farmers had cultivated green and red chilli in 3,075 hectares this year.
Out of 3,075 hectares, red chilli was raised in 2,104 hectares. Out of 2,104 hectares, red chilli was raised in 329 hectares in Vinjamur, 466 in Kaligiri, 113 in Kondapuram, 84 in Jaladanki, 153 in Duttalur, 21 in Varikuntapadu, 1.2 in Seetharamapuram and 4 hectares in Seetharamapuram mandal. Green chilli growers tense Green chilli, which is chiefly used in curries, is a perishable crop by nature and the growers cannot preserve it in cold storage plants as is the case of red chilli waiting for a favourable market environment. “We are issuing cultivation certificates to chilli farmers to sell their produce at remunerative prices under Market Intervention Scheme.
The government is initiating steps for price stabilisation by eliminating middlemen in the process of procurement,” said Anuradha, a Horticulture official. It may be mentioned here that farmers in Atmakur division had earned `3 lakh to `4 lakh profit per acre last year by selling green chilli in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
The farmers invested `1.75 lakh on mirchi cultivation in one hectare this year. According to sources, farmers cultivated green chilli in around 3,200 acres in Anantasagaram, Marripadu and Atmakur mandals this year. In the previous year, green chilli was raised in 2,300 acres of land. “I invested `30,000 per acre to harvest the crop. I paid a daily wage of `120 to each labourer