Lockdown: Trading begins at Guntur chilli yard after two months

GUNTUR: Trading activity resumed at Asia’s biggest chilli yard after two months in Guntur. The exporters and commission agents purchased chilli directly from the farmers and cold storages.

As many as 80 traders and 115 commission agents participated in the trading. Over 300 farmers brought their produce to the market.

The commission agents, supervisors and workers were seen following social distancing. 

While, the farmers brought 23,000 chilli bags to the market yard on Monday, traders purchased over 9,000 bags of Teja variety and 341 varieties of chilli.

The traders paid Rs 9,000 to Rs 14,000 per quintal of chilli. Further, the farmers brought 44,000 bags of chilli to the market yard on Tuesday. 

Mirchi yard chairman Ch Yesuratnam said that boxes were drawn to ensure social distancing while standing in the queue lines.

He informed that the traders purchased over 25,000 bags of chilli from farmers outside the market during the lockdown period, and the market yard received Rs 5.93 crore fee through online transactions.

 He stated that farmers brought 67,000 bags of different varieties of chilli to the yard in two days, adding that they are expecting good business in the coming days.