Guntur, January 24: Kanala Rameswar Reddy, a chilli farmer of Hussainapuram in Orvakal mandal in Kurnool district was preparing to sell his 11 quintals of red chillies to a middleman for Rs 3,500 per quintal when he received an SMS from the Guntur Market Yard. Immediately, he rushed to Guntur along with four other farmers, sold the produce and made a clean profit of Rs 30,000 for himself.
During the Khariff Rameswar Reddy raised chilli crop in four acres of land and got a yield of 11 quintals _ six quintals of best quality red chillies and five quintals of poorer quality. “In my native place the middlemen offered me Rs 3,500 per quintal for the best quality chillies and Rs 1,500 per quintal for poorer quality chillies. But when I sold the chillies at the Guntur Market Yard I got Rs 6,500 per quintal for the best quality and Rs 3,500 for the poorer quality chillies. I earned Rs 60,000 and made a clear profit of Rs 30,000,” he said.
Rameswar Reddy and the four others, who had come all the way from Kurnool with a load of 110 quintals, earned Rs 6.7 lakh by selling the chilies. By avoiding middlemen and selling their produce directly in the market, the farmers made a profit of Rs 3.5 lakh after paying Rs 20,000 for transportation.
All that became possible thanks to the SMS system introduced by Guntur joint collector A Sarath as farmers are able to sell their produce directly in the market yard without the need for middlemen and earning a good price.
Usually, middlemen purchase chillies from farmers at a rock-bottom price and pocket a huge margin by selling it at higher prices to traders.
The joint collector made arrangements to send the latest prices of chillies in the market yard through the SMS every morning to MROs, MDOs, peoples representatives and ideal farmers and asking them to forward the message to others to curb the menace of middlemen. This system brought about a revolution and provided an opportunity to farmers to sell their produce directly at the market yard.
The SMS system gained prominence in a short time as not only farmers from Guntur but also from neighbouring districts are receiving updates on the latest market price of chillies on their cellphones.
“We introduced the SMS system to check the menace of middlemen and to ensure welfare of farmers,” said the joint collector.
The market yard has purchased 22.49 lakh quintals of chillies till December and farmers have made a profit of about Rs 180 crore by selling the chillies directly to traders.
–Agencies