Vijayawada, April 26: Chilli farmers in the district are on cloud nine due to the bumper yield they had received this year despite earlier drought conditions and flash floods. Though hailstorm lashed some parts of the district, there are no reports of damage to the crop.
Assistant director of horticulture Balaji Nayak said that chilli farmers completed their harvest much before the hailstorm struck and the damage to the crop was negligible.
Speaking to `Express’, a chilli farmer of Pathapadu village near here, Kakapati Sambi Reddy said that he got the best yield of his life time, about 42 quintals per acre. He said that he would get Rs 50,000 profit per acre this year which was the highest so far in his life.
The elated farmer said that he had been cultivating chilli for the last ten years but average yield he got so far was only 25 quintal per acre and he could never make any profit. Use of pesticides and fertilisers on time and timely rain have contributed to the raise in the yield, he said.
The assistant director said that the district stood fourth in chilli cultivation after Khammam, Guntur and Warangal districts, with the crop area of 12,000 hectares.
Nayak said chilli cultivation was taken up on a large scale in Jaggaiahpeta, G Konduru, Nandigama, Musuluru and Tiruvuru areas in the district.
Getting about 35 quintals of yield per acre was above average and the assistant director rated 45 quintals production per acre as the best yield.
Nayak said he did not see many farmers getting an yield of more than 45 quintals.
Another farmer of Pathapadu village, Kalli Siva Reddy said he had cultivated chilli in five acres and already got about 170 quintals. He said he was expecting about 10 to 15 quintals more.
–Agencies