By Smita Bhattacharyya
Ananta Saikia, a horticulturist attached to the National Horticultural Mission for Northeast and Himalayan States, has predicted that the market for the chilli has hotted up so much in the state that the entire industry faces the danger of crashing like the sensex any day.
“The price of bhoot jolokia (Capsicum chinense), which was only Rs 20 per kg a few years ago when acquired from growers, has gone up to nearly Rs 300 a kg. If prices continue to rise, it will not augur well for the processing industry, which is feeling the pinch of decreasing profits and may not be able to market the product at this rate of increase. Moreover, Bangladesh and a few other states have entered this field and may soon be able to take over the market if they keep their prices low,” Saikia said.
Bhoot jolokia is grown naturally in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland and in some parts of Bangladesh.
Saikia said farmers who earlier cultivated paddy here had found a goldmine in bhoot jolokia. Tea gardens, especially big company gardens with fallow land, too began cultivating this variety of chilli, which was certified by the Guinness World Records in 2007 as the hottest chilli in the world. The prices soared after this declaration as markets expanded abroad.
The commercial value of the chilli also went up with the DRDO deciding to use it as an ingredient for grenades to be used in mob control.
“With an input of only Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 and a maximum of upto Rs 10,000, a farmer can get a return of anything between Rs 2 to 3 lakh per bigha,” he said.
The National Horticulture Mission for Northeast and Himalayan States has fixed a target of bringing 1,000 hectares of land under bhoot jolokia cultivation in Assam. The project, which began last year, is still on. “Once largescale production begins, the prices might automatically fall but in the eventuality that the trend remains the same as now, with farmers taking their asking price, it will not be viable for the processing units,” the horticulturist said.
“Right now the bulk buyers of the chilli are manufacturing units here and in some other parts of India and the processed product is mostly exported with almost no domestic market to speak of. But the rising prices could put off manufacturers who might turn to Bangladesh or Kerala where they might be able to buy it cheaper,” he said.
“While farmers benefiting so much is a boon to the state, the government should keep an eye open that processing units also get a viable price,” he added.
The owner of a processing unit at Hatigarh in the district that exports bhoot jolokia paste and powder — used as seasoning in sauces and other condiments — to 20 countries abroad said profits had fallen greatly in the last year or two with the surge in prices.
Basanta Baruah, a farmer in the district, said bhoot jolokia farming had benefited him a lot and he had expanded his farmland from a small plot to nearly half a bigha. “In 2005, I used to sell a kg for Rs 20 to Rs 30 but now the retail price is Rs 300 while the wholesale price is anything between Rs 160 to Rs 200,” he said.
The bhoot jolokia was found to have a rating of 1,001,304 Scoville heat units twice that of the Red Savina, which had previously held the world record, by the New Mexico State University, Chile Pepper Institute.
1 comments:
those are gone days its 1000 and above per kg
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