Procurement of chilli likely to go down

Chilli procurement in 2005 is unlikely to exceed 15,000 tonne, half the targetted amount, a senior official at the Andhra Pradesh Co-operative State Marketing Federation told CRISIL MarketWire Friday. The May 31 chilli-buying deadline is likely to be extended by 10 days, he said.

Till now, Andhra Pradesh Markfed has procured around 5,600 tonne of chilli, worth Rs 18 crore, from Guntur, Warangal and Khammam. It had started buying chilli from April 14.

Of this, around 800 tonne of chilli have been procured at Warangal, and about 450 tonne from Khammam.

"The chilli procurement rate is low because only about 40 per cent-50 per cent of the chilli being brought by farmers is coming up to the strict quality norms," the Andhra Pradesh Markfed official said.