The impact of diseases on the chilli crop, particularly the Byadgi variety, is less than last year, though arrivals have been affected due to late sowing in Karnataka, the third-highest grower in the country.

According to Spiceextra.in website, incidents of wilt disease, which increase in the event of continuous rainfall, is less compared to last year, while incidents of western black thrips disease, which crops up due to cold weather conditions resulting in pests multiplying manifold, is also less. 

“Major arrivals were 30 per cent less than last year when the inflow of very low medium varieties made up 50 per cent. This year, arrivals of such inferior quality are less than 10 per cent,” the website said.

Also, arrivals of medium and best quality were 20 per cent higher than last year. This year, sowing was delayed by 10-15 days since the South-West monsoon arrived on July 1 only in Karnataka. 

However, the area under the spice crop is higher, mainly due to farmers’ interest in Byadgi. Record high prices for chilli last year also influenced farmers’ decision to go for the crop. 

Price correction

On the other hand, rains in October affected 25-35 per cent of the crop and delayed arrivals to the third and fourth week of December, it said. 

The website said farmers are looking for better prices and it will take some time for the price correction to set in. But in December prices decreased by 20-25 per cent with prices of Byadgi being quoted at ₹38,000 a quintal. 

Heavy rains under the impact of a formation of a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal affected arrivals in Karnataka by 7-10 days in December, Spiceextra.in said. However, the weather was generally good for the crop last month and crops are developing “exceptionally well”. 

The website is a platform for research and development initiatives in dry chilli with a focus on digitising the spice crop data, including price, arrivals, crop survey, assaying and branding.

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