Farmers are shying away from the cultivation of Harekala chilli, in spite of the good price it fetches in the market.
The chilli, used in the preparation of pickle and non-vegetarian dishes, is cultivated only on a few acres. Shortage of farm labour and the lack of interest among youths are the reasons why farmers are keeping away from its cultivation.
“Five decades ago, we had a festival-like atmosphere here as people from various parts of the district used to visit our village to collect the chilli plants from the nurseries here,” says Jagannath Samani, a 60-year-old farmer from Harekala village.
Then Harekala chillies were grown on around 200 acres of land in three villages — Harekala, Ambalamogaru and Pavoor — of Mangalore taluk, and around 20 acres were earmarked only for nurseries, he adds. The situation is entirely different now. Manohar Shetty, farmer and Member of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, says the entire production of Harekala chillies is now limited to around four-five acres of land in these villages.
Added to the shortage of farm labour, youngsters are not keen to take up its cultivation. K Kishor, a 32-year-old farmer from Harekala, says he has been cultivating chillies for the last four years on two acres of land after his father passed away four years ago. Till then, his father was cultivating them.
“I am planning to bring down the area of cultivation from next year,” he says, adding that the shortage of farm labour has forced him to take this decision. “Now three women above 65 years work with me. I work till 7 p.m. in the field. It is difficult for me to continue with big parcels of land as chilli plucking needs patience,” he says. It is not that there is no market for this chilli variety. One kg of Harekala chilli fetches ₹250 in the market, when the normal chilli variety fetches around ₹120 a kg.
Kishor says though the price is good this year compared with last year, it is difficult for him to continue for long. The uniqueness of Harekala chilli is that it has good size, a bright red colour and produces good gravy when used in the preparation of pickle and non-vegetarian dishes, Samani says.
NurseriesKishor says seeds are planted in nurseries in September, and the plants thus raised are planted in the field during November. Harvest begins in January and continues up to April.
In spite of the depressing trends, some farmers are still hopeful. Considering the demand for this variety of chilli and its uniqueness, farmers such as Nandakumar Rai, Bhaskar and Manohar Shetty now plan to seek GI (geographical indication) tag for the chilli.