Hot demand: Red chilli prices up 30% in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: Craving spicy hot curries this winter? Well, that may come at a dearer cost. With less harvest and more demand, the price of red chillies have skyrocketed by at least 30% in Ahmedabad. Estimates by Shree Amdavad Madhupura Mahajan (SAMM) suggest that wholesale price of red chilly has increased from Rs 120 per kg last year to Rs 170 per kg this year.
Explaining the trend, Dinesh Patel, president, SAMM, said, “This time around the supply is less because of lesser harvest of chillies, not just in Gujarat but also from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh too.At the same time, the demand in the export market has gone up significantly, especially in Bangladesh. With more demand and limited crop, the wholesale price of red chillies has gone up.”
Madhupura market, which is known to be one of the oldest spices market of the city, currently sees at least 8-10 tonnes of chilli supply on a daily basis. The season for trading chillies has now begun and is expected to last over the next six to seven months till May.
Chillies that are used in chilli powder are cultivated in northern part of Gujarat, mainly in Patan and Deesa. Citing reasons behind the poor harvest, Sagar Rabari, president, Khedut Ekta Manch, said, “The extended monsoon has caused a lot of crop damage for various vegetable crops including green chillies. Due to this, the harvest reduced drastically and the sowing for the current season has also been delayed.”
“Moisture in the air usually affects the quality of crop also as a result of which the prices have declined,” Rabari further added. Sources said that amidst short supply and high demand, the red varieties of chillies are fetching good prices for the farmers. The chilli crop – which is a preferred cash crop – has been adversely hit due to prolonged incessant rainfall in Maharashtra as well as Madhya Pradesh.