To get additional financial value from their produce, nearly two dozen chilly growers from the Ferozepur area are ready to start exporting the green chillies. The first consignment of 15 tonnes will be sent through an export house to the Middle East on Monday.
The chilly growers have formed a farmer producer organisation (FPO), naming it ‘Saragarhi Farmer Producer Company’, and have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an export house, KS Exports, to send nearly 15 tonnes of green chillies at Rs 28 per kilogram every alternate day, with the first consignment on April 20.
The chillies have been grown as per the clauses of the contract inked between the FPO and the exporter. Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Rajya Sabha member Vikramjit Singh Sahney are expected to flag off the first export consignment.
Initially, 20 farmers joined hands in May 2023 by forming an unnamed farmer collective, which has taken the shape of an FPO at Hakumat Singh Wala village in Ferozepur, with a processing unit in the pipeline in the near future.
FRO senior member Balwinder Singh from Mahalam village, who is behind starting the exports, speaking to TOI, said, “When the chillies were not getting a stable price and even Punjab Agro Export Corporation was offering nearly Rs 24 per kg, we tried to get a remunerative price by forming the collective nearly 3 years ago and now we have been able to start the exports. The ‘Gauri’ variety of green chillies will be sent to the Middle East, mainly to the United Arab Emirates and Oman.”
The chillies are sown in late October or early November, and harvesting for green chillies starts in April, which continues till late June. The farmer gets nearly 110-130 quintals per acre. The crop is grown in over 25,000 acres in Ferozepur. Earlier, the traders from Rajasthan and Delhi used to purchase chillies from the farmer collective as Punjab Agro had decided to set a cluster of chillies at Ferozepur.
Balwinder Singh added, “We want the govt to set up cold stores for chillies to preserve it for a longer period, as presently the chillies have to be absorbed in nearly a week. We also want the govt to set up a drier.”
