KHAMMAM: Chilli farmers were on cloud nine on Monday. The price of their produce went up to a record high of Rs 25,500 per quintal. A Sreenu, a farmer from a remote village Ulavanur in Palvoncha mandal said: “I have never expected I would be in for a windfall like this. I became a lakhpati overnight.”
Srinu is a small farmer. He raised Teja variety of chilies in his five-acre land holding. He took 39 quintals to the Khammam market yard on Monday which is about 100 km away. When Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar decided that the price should be Rs 25,500 per quintal, he was elated. More than 10 other farmers returned home with bulging pockets.
After the declaration of the price, YS Trading Company came forward and purchased 30 quintals of Teja variety of chilly from Srinu at Rs 25,500 per quintal. He wanted the price to remain in this range always, which, he said, would encourage the farmers to grow more and finally free them from the shackles of usurious middlemen.
Khammam market secretary R Mallesham, said: “The price hit an all-time high on Monday. Till now the highest price was Rs 23,000 per quintal. This record stands broken.”
Khammam Agriculture Market Yard acts as the nucleus for trading for farmers from Suryapet, Nalgonda, and Mahabubabad in Telangana, and Krishna and Guntur districts in Andhra Pradesh despite the fact that Guntur too has a large market.
According to officials, the Khammam market yard began operations in November 2022. Initially, 4,000 to 5,000 bags of chilli used to arrive but later the number went up to 25,0000 bags per day.
Mallesham said that 25,000 bags came to the market yard on Monday. The main reason for the price of chilies to go up was that its production has gone down drastically this year.
In Khammam, the farmers this year raised chilli crop on in 70,000 acres and 30,000 acres in the Bhadradri-Kothagudem district for fear of thrips attack. They raised the crop in 1.03 lakh acres and in 40,000 acres, respectively, last year.
Expressing happiness over farmers getting a good price, Minister Ajay Kumar said he would ensure that the market is developed into a major hub in accordance with international standards.