Chilli growers in Prakasam district are at their wits’ end as twin viruses — Coronavirus and Gemini virus — have dashed their hopes of a decent return for their produce, the quality of which has also been affected because of excess rainfall.
Farmers in the drought-prone district had taken up the cultivation of the commercial crop in over 70,000 acres, as they got remunerative returns when the price of the spice crop went northwards last year, as traders despite the Coronavirus-induced lockdown made repeated visits to their farms and lapped up the available produce following increase global demand. Now, they are clueless on how to break even, leave alone getting decent returns.
“Now the farmers are in an unenvious position on various counts, including unfavourable market condition, fall in productivity and discoloured crop due to virus attack following unseasonal rains,” lamented farmer leader Ch. Ranga Rao.
“There are no takers for our produce even at reduced price,” said a tenant farmer Srinivasa Rao from Inkollu village, who had grown the crop in 10 acres of leased land. Intially, the crop fetched an attractive price of ₹16,000 per quintal. “There are no takers even at ₹10,000 per quintal now,” he laments while overseeing the grading of the pungent crop by farm workers fully adhering to COVID safety norms.
“I have no option but to put the produce in a cold storage unit hoping for the market condition to improve in the next three or four months,” said another farmer, Venkateswara Rao, who has spent ₹1.50 lakh per acre for raising the crop in 20 acres at Pamidipadu village.
Productivity had fallen from the normal 25 quintals per acre on an average to about 10 quintals this time, as incessant rains spelt doom for him, he explained.
Those growers who lacked the capacity to store in cold storage units were forced to sell at whatever price offered by the traders to settle dues to migrant workers, who come all the way from Ballari in Karnataka for harvesting.
The labour shortage at the Asia’s biggest Guntur market yard, where many Hamalis were down with COVID, was adding to their woes, said yet another farmer Srinivasa Rao from Mallavaram village. He feared going to market in view of the market glut and raging pandemic, he said.