KHAMMAM: Chilli farmers find themselves in a very difficult situation with the price of their produce plummeting to a new low of Rs 14,000 per quintal from a high of Rs 22,000 per quintal in 2023 and they are pinning their hopes on the state government to save them.
New year started for them on a gloomy note as the price of a quintal of chilli at the Khammam martket yard remains at a disappointingly low of Rs 14,000.
In a double whammy to the farmers, the investment to cultivate chilli has gone up to Rs 1-Rs 1.5 lakh per acre in 2024 from Rs 70,000-Rs 80,000 in 2023 and the yield has come down to 5-6 quintals per acre as against 10-12 quintals.
The area of cultivation has been decreasing every year due to adverse weather condition and diseases blighting crop. Chilli cultivation is a costly affair and yield depends on luck,” said K Raghava Raju, a farmer fron Aswaraopet. The area of chilli cultivation came down to 95,000 acres in 2024 from 1.50 lakh acres in 2023 in erstwhile Khammam district.
N Krishna, a farmer from Enkoor, alleged that the traders are reducing prices citing a high moisture content in chilli and other causes. “
I had sold for Rs 19,500 per quintal in 2023 but this year I am being offered only Rs 11,000-Rs 13,000 per quintal. The yield came down to 5-6 quintals per acre in 2024 from 12 quintals in 2023 due to rains and change of weather,” Krishna lamented and added some farmers got even 15-20 quintals a year ago. Rising cost of cultivation, low yield and falling prices have dealt blow to the farmers.
Rubbing salt into their wounds, the farmers have not received Rythu Bharosa for Kharif and Rabi.
New year brought no cheers and Sankanti is unlikely to be a joyous occasion for the farmers in 2025 unless the state government steps in.
K Samba Murthy, a farmer hailing from Pallipadu village, said, “Our condition is not good. We can barely manage to escape from heavy losses if we get Rs 20,000 per quintal but that appears unlikely given the prevailing conditions.”
District Rythu Sangham president B Rambabu said. ‘’Chilli traders in collusion with officials are cheating the farmers who toil in the fields’.” If the state government fails to intervene, chilli crop would vanish and the farmers would take to streets, he warned.