Chilli turns hot on good deal

Red chillis were sold at an eight-year high of Rs 6,300 per quintal at the concluding day of last week's auctions at the government market yard here.

M Sivaramaiah, secretary, market yard selection grade, said the chilli crop in other states were severely damaged during the floods resulting in their price rise in Andhra Pradesh. The prices soared on shortfall in supply of chillis in markets all over the country.

About 20 lakh tikkis (1 tikki =40 kg bags) are still lying in cold storages while one lakh tikkis are with the farmers, he added. Traders are vying with one another to buy quality chilli from farmers following the bleak crop prospects in other parts of the country.

He said from April 1 to August 31, farmers sold 13,65,423 quintals of chilli at the market yard: 4,54,657 quintals at Rs 2,500-5,900 per quintal in April, 1,63,420 quintals at Rs 2,300-5,000 per quintal in May, 1,12,311 quintals at Rs 2,300-5,200 per quintal in June, 3,10,831 quintals at Rs 2,500-5,150 in July and 3,24,204 quintals at Rs 2,500-6000 in August.

At the Khammam and Warangal market yards too the chilli prices were in uppish trend. Sivaramaiah said the farmers should not go for excess crop this year as it would lead to a crash in prices next year.

This year, they were lucky as farmers of other states failed to reap satisfactory yields. Farmers should realise that chilli had no minimum support price (MSP), he said.

Market sources said that apart from domestic conditions, export orders from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh boosted chilli prices in the state.