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Prices of various varieties of red chilli have gone up to new highs in Telangana as nearly 70 per cent of the crop has been damaged due to the new invasive thrips virus.
Prices in Andhra Pradesh, another key market for the spice, too are ruling high, though a tad lower than in Telangana.
The two States account for nearly two-thirds of the country’s red chilli area of 7.45 lakh hectares and 19 lakh tonnes in production.
The ‘Desi’ variety was quoted at a whopping ₹27,000 a quintal in the Warangal market against₹20,000 during the the same day last year, one of the key markets for chillies in the country.
While “Teja” variety was bought at a maximum of ₹18,000 (₹12,950), US-341 variety was sold at ₹23,000 (₹14,200) and Wonder Hot at ₹21,200 (₹17,000).
Farmers, however, are not elated. With the new thrips virus attack virtually resulting in a rout of their crop, they don’t have much to celebrate. “We expected this to happen because of the new virus attack this year. There is not much output expected from the kharif crop. Only 25 per cent of the output will come to markets,” Jaipal Reddy, a chilli farmer, said.
Modal prices
The rate at which most trades take place or modal price, however, shows a realistic picture. The modal price for ‘Desi’ variety stood at ₹25,000, followed by ₹16,000 for ‘Teja’ and ₹19,000 for the ‘US-341’ variety.
Hoping for a rise in demand for the spice crop this year, farmers had sown it on about four lakh acres in Telangana. But the new invasive thrips spread widely in the chilli-growing areas of (undivided) Khammam and Warangal districts, causing huge losses. Most of the farmers had to pluck the plants out, unable to tackle the virus attack. “I have sown the crop on six acres but had to remove the plants after the pest vattack All my investment of ₹10 lakh have gone wdown the drain,” Reddy said.
Traders, however, said not all the varieties are getting high prices.
“It all depends on the quality. Because of the pest attack, we don’t expect much produce that attracts these high prices,” a trader said, wishing anonymity.
Slack arrivals
With the entire crop getting affected by the virus attack, arrivals at the market are slack.
Going by current trends, prices are expected to breach ₹30,000-mark for the Desi variety and ₹25,000 for other varieties.
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