Rice over spice: Punjab farmers plough back chilli crop for paddy
Faced with low prices and scarce buyers, many farmers in Ferozepur, the leading chilli-cultivating district, opted to prematurely plough back their crops and proceed with paddy sowing last month.
Despite remarkable growth in chilli cultivation in Ferozepur, from 736 hectares in 2014-15 to 2,732 hectares in 2024-25, the recently concluded season proved dismal for farmers, with prices of red, dry chilli plummeting to Rs 60-70 per kg from Rs 180 per kg in 2023 and Rs 130 per kg last year.
The chilli cluster in Ferozepur was inaugurated in March 2023.
Manpreet Singh, a farmer from Basti Dabian Wali in Ferozepur, cultivated chilli across 100 acres but was forced to plough back a substantial portion. He explained that Punjab's chilli did not reach Guntur this season because export samples of its traders failed due to residue traces (in chilli of other states), and Guntur already held significant stocks, including last year's chilli in cold storage.
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Despite Ferozepur's chilli being residue-free and valued by Guntur traders for its unique red colour, farmers like Manpreet were compelled to sell their produce to local and Rajasthani grinders at a reduced price of Rs 75-80 per kg. The Guntur mirchi yard is one of Asia's largest chilli markets and exports to countries like China and Vietnam.
Need for cold storage
Adding to the farmers' woes, the state govt's decision to advance paddy sowing to June 1 created a major labour shortage, as workers preferred the better rates offered in paddy.
This resulted in widespread losses to farmers across the entire Ferozepur area, marking the first time they were forced to plough back their chilli crop. Farmers reiterated the long-standing demand for cold storage facilities, which would allow green chillies to ripen into red over time, ensuring better market value.
Hardeep Singh, a chilli farmer of Bareke village, said farmers who typically divide their crop to sell both green and red chillies, were forced to sell their entire harvest as green chilli at a meagre Rs 8-10 per kg.
This was due to reports of dwindling purchases by Guntur traders for exports, leading to a market glut and an abrupt shortening of the chilli season to just two months, despite its usual duration from Oct to July.
"While labour is always an issue with chilli harvesting, this time the clash with paddy sowing gravely aggravated the situation," he said, adding: "We suffered a loss of Rs 50,000 per acre this season."
Ferozepur's chilli farmers also questioned the rationale behind Punjab govt's decision to establish a chilli processing plant in Abohar through the Punjab Agri Export Corporation Ltd (PAGREXCO), given the area's limited chilli cultivation.
"There is a need to set up a procurement centre in Ferozepur so that small farmers are saved from incurring transportation costs," they said.
Apart from cold storage facilities, farmers are demanding the setting up of solar dryers in the grain markets so that chilli and other vegetables can be dried to fetch better prices. Ferozepur chief horticulture officer Simran Singh said to boost crop diversification in the border district, which has emerged as one of the state's largest vegetable producers, a chilli development centre is being established under NITI Aayog's aspirational district programme at a cost of Rs 59 lakh.
He added chilli cultivation proved to be a viable option for over 4,000 farmers in the district, many of whom are small and marginal.
Developed by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Chilli Hybrid-27 (CH-27) has emerged as a predominant choice, steadily progressing from small-scale production to massive commercial-level farming in and around a cluster of villages in the Malwa and Doaba regions of Punjab.
Area Under Chilli in Punjab & Top 3 Districts
Year | Punjab | Ferozepur | Jalandhar | Tarn Taran
2014-15 | 7359 | 736 | 1,115 | 974
2015-16 | 7,501 | 738 | 1,124 | 1,004
2016-17 | 7,687 | 754 | 1,134 | 1,010
2017-18 | 8,211 | 805 | 1,165 | 1,075
2018-19 | 8,770 | 1,716 | 1,166 | 545
2019-20 | 8,776 | 1,616 | 1,270 | 503
2020-21 | 8,778 | 1,540 | 1,272 | 506
2021-22 | 9,920 | 1918 | 851 | 559
2022-23 | 10,614 | 2,052 | 911 | 598
2023-24 | 11,397 | 2,732 | 1,002 | 641
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