Thrips, rains a double whammy for chilli farmers of Andhra Pradesh

GUNTUR: With less than a month left for the onset of the Mirchi season, farmers and the vendors are worried that the recent pest infestations and the late start of cultivation might affect their business this season. 

The chilli season usually starts in January and continues till May every year. Chilli farmers from various districts and states such as Karnataka and Telangana also come to Guntur Mirchi yard to sell their produce. 

Every year, chilli from this mirchi yard is exported to as many as 40 countries including China, USA, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, etc., making a total business of about Rs 5,000 crore.

Guntur is the only city in the country that has the highest of 100-150 cold storage facilities. Each cold storage can accommodate 60-70 lakh bags of chilli. 

With several mirchi farmers making profits in the last year despite Covid, many cotton farmers in the district switched to mirchi cultivation. As a result, mirchi cultivation has increased from 70,000 and doubled to 1.40 lakh hectares in the district this year. 

Farmers are worried if they will be able to get returns on the investment they have made considering the circumstances such as fake seeds, unseasonal rains and thrips infestation in major areas of the districts. 
Though the State government has been providing quality seeds through RBKs at subsidised rates, several farmers are still using fake seeds due to lack of awareness. 

The thrips infestation in as many as 12,000 hectares during the most crucial time of the crop and the recent heavy rains have come as a double whammy to the farmers.

Although the crop has sustained the worst, farmers and vendors doubt that this might affect the quality of the chilli crop which might result in losses. 

On the other hand, scientists and horticulture department officials are suggesting that crop rotation and lessening the utilisation of chemical pesticides is necessary to prevent such dangerous thrips and viral infections on crops.