Store chillies up to March to get better price- UAS Advisory

 Chilli is one of the most important commercial spice crops of India. Chilli is used in number of activities such as vegetables, spice, condiments, sauce, pickles. Chilli occupies an important place in Indian diet and it is indispensable item in the kitchen as it is consumed daily as condiment in one or other form. It is rich in vitamins, especially in vitamins A and C. The dried chilli fruits constitute a major share among the spices consumed per head. India ranks second among world chilli exporters and showed a steady decline in chilli trade due to domestic consumption. State level analysis revealed that Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka. The major chilli growing countries are India, China, Korea, Nigeria, U.S.S.R, Mexico etc.

 Chilli is cultivated exclusively for market, with a little proportion of it retained for its domestic consumption. Many a time farmers have burnt their fingers due to sudden collapse in prices due to gambling of traders in marketing of this crop. In this regard, in order to help the farmers and to save them from distress sale, prices of dry chillies in Byadagi regulated market have been analysed and prices during harvest months ( i.e., December 2012- March 2013) have been forecasted for Byadagi area by the Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell, (DEMIC) Department of Agribusiness Management, University of Agricultutral Sciences , Dharwad.

The prices of dry chillies, at present are around Rs. 4980 (November, 2012) per quintal, which is expected to vary with the quality and variety. Hence, in order to help the farmers to decide up on marketing of chilli, the DEMIC have come out with the price forecasts. According to the prediction of the DEMIC, the prices of chilli would be around Rs.5400-5800 in the month of December, Rs. 6000-6200 in the month of January, which is likely to decrease to Rs.5700-6000 in the month of February and further increase to Rs. 6100-6500 in the month of March. Therefore, farmers are hereby advised to store chilli upto March and then release for the market. The storage cost around of chillies would be around Rs 5 per quintal per month. Well dried, uniform coloured and dust and dirt free chillies would fetch better prices. The farmers need to keep these points in mind while storing the chillies and bringing them to the market for sale.