Red Chilies are More Lucrative for Farmers While Potatoes are the Least, Says a Report

With a shocking reveal, the RBI survey report says that Red chilies are the most profitable for farmers in the current market while potato ranked in the last. As per reports, the survey was conducted in December 2018 and covered 9,403 farmers, traders, and retailers across 18 States. Input costs for agriculture have been rising over the past few years, while food inflation has been declining, the survey reveals.

This indicates the severe problem of lying with the lower-income of farmers as they are getting lower returns from some types of products while investing more than before. The survey shows that farmers get widely varying returns based on the crops.

Moreover, the Wholesale Price Index reflects a measure of the change in price over time and shows that the cost of investments by farmers has risen between 2016 & 2019.

Food price inflation in India has witnessed a sharp and sustained moderation since the 2014-15. Annual average food inflation based on CPI-C, which was 11.9 percent in 2013-14 has declined over every successive year to less than 1 percent in 2018-19. In 2019-20 so far (April-August), food inflation has averaged 2.2 percent (2.4 percent during the corresponding period of 2018-19).

“Agricultural mandis (markets) across 18 states were visited during the survey and information was sought on 16 major food crops grown in India. The survey had covered around 9400 respondents including farmers, traders and retailers spread across both production and consumption centres, involving separate questionnaires for each of the respondent categories”, says the survey reports.

As per reports, Red chillies have become hotter with prices increasing sharply by 30 to 40 per cent as the growers hold on to the stock fearing a shortfall in the coming months.

Earlier reports say that the prices range from Rs 85 per kg for the lowest quality to Rs 145 per kg for the export variety Teja. Chilli is the largest exported spice from the country earning over Rs 4000 crore annually.

Though the chilli sowing increased by nearly 25 per cent, the last crop yield was not as expected because of inclement weather. It is estimated to be little over 23 lakh tonnes, slightly higher from the previous year. Heavy buying by China at the time of harvest in March and good domestic demand depleted the stock, according to the exporters.