Balasore: After distress sale of paddy in the district, it seems to be the turn of green chilli farmers who are desperate to sell their produce.
Hundreds of chilli growers are in a miserable state following a sudden fall in price in the market. Chilli was selling at Rs 100 per kilogram in Balasore market a month ago but it has come down to Rs 10 a kg, farmers said.
“Every year we transport tonnes of green chilli to Delhi market. But this year, the produce is sold at Rs 16 a kg there which has thrown water on all our hopes,” Purnachandra Majhi, a farmer of Sanakudia village who took Rs 2.5 lakh bank loan to raise the crop, said.
He cultivated the crop on a patch of three acres. However, his hard work of four months went in vain, Majhi lamented. Every year, farmers of Sanakudia, Buanla, Sindhia and Pakharabad panchayats under Sadar block take up chilli cultivation in over 500 acres of land and make bumper harvest since the soil along river Budhabalanga suits best to the crop.
The produce is even exported to Pakistan and Nepal from Delhi, it was learnt. However, the farmers are in distress with fall in the price.
Another farmer Abhay Mohanty said traders are running away from them seeing the market price and the crops are rotting in fields. Had there been cold storage facility, the farmers could have made some money by preserving the crop and selling them at the peak of the market, he added.
According to reports, local traders don’t pay more than Rs 5 a kg to farmers, which is not even adequate to engage a farm labourer. A person can collect about 50 kg of green chilli a day and charges Rs 200 for it. On the other hand, 50 kg of chilli is sold at Rs 150 in the market making it is almost impossible for a farmer to engage a hand to pluck chillies. The crop is rotting in many farms due to this problem.
“When we are unable to pay the labourers, repaying loan is out of question,” another farmer Mahanta Parida said. While farmers are in stress over loan repayment, the indifference of administration may force them to commit suicide, locals feared. PNN