Chilli prices nosedive, farmers bear the brunt in Andhra

GUNTUR: The farmers are in a huge distress, as the prices of various varieties of chilli nose-dived after Sankranti due to a sudden increase in the arrival of chilli to Guntur market yard.Guntur marketyard is the biggest chilli yard in Asia.

As a result, the business is always active even during the off season. Following the decrease in the production of chilli due to thrips infestation last year, the prices of all varieties witnessed a boom as never before. The prices remained high constantly for several months.But as the chilli harvest has completed, the farmers who suffered severe losses during the last season are eager to sell their produce, while the prices are high. This resulted in the heavy production of chilli.

According to the reports, the chilli production is 50,000 to 70,000 bags per day a week ago, it was suddenly increased from 1 lakh to 1.25 lakh soon after the festival. This resulted in the drop of prices. The farmers arriving from far away places like Kurnool, Nandyal in hopes of getting high profits are very much disappointed.

Explaining the reasons for sudden fall of prices, Sudheer, a merchant at mirchiyard said that, the drop of prices is not at all unusual because every year when the arrivals increase, the prices of various varieties reduce.

Predicting the same, many farmers sold their produce which they had kept in cold storage for several months to bag profits. As a result, most of the cold storage in and around the city are empty now. Along with this, international marketing is also a bit slow during this period which added up to the drop in the prices, he added.Meanwhile, the farmers who are arriving from faraway places to sell their produce are feeling dejected by the sudden drop of prices.