Byadagi chilli growers register bumper sales

Haveri: Although the lockdown had a particularly distressing impact on agriculture as well, those who were engaged in the cultivation of the famous Byadagi Menasinakai (chilli) in 2019-20 have a reason to smile. In all, Chilli Market in Haveri collected Rs 19 crore from the sale of Byadagi Chilli in the previous fiscal year, as against Rs 15 crore in 2018-19.
In fact, the lower yield of the Byadagi chilli in 2019-20 compared with the corresponding figure in 2018-19 only serves to set in stark relief the profits that the farmers have reaped. In 2019-20, as many as 8,42,230 quintals of Byadagi chilli were sold on the market, in comparison to 8,63,824 – 2.5% more – in 2018-19. An official at the chilli market said, “Farmers got a really good price for the produce this year.
Joint secretary of the Chilli Market SB Nyamagouda said that farmers got Rs 33,333 for each quintal of grade ‘A’ Byadagi chilli, which he said was a record high. “In all, the turnover at our market, which is the largest for chillies in Asia, for 2019-20 was Rs 1,260 crore against Rs 1,009 crore in 2018-19. We have recorded encouraging sales despite the decline in quantity,” he added.
Shivanand Mallanagoudar, commission agent at the market, attributed the steep spike in the price of Byadagi chilli to the increase in the volume of exports of the crop to China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He also pointed to use of Byadagi chilli, the utility of which was originally restricted to the kitchen, for the extraction of oleoresin – a red oil used in the preparation of cosmetics – had pushed its demand up.