Grow chilly to make merry

Grow chilly to make merry
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Machhana (Bathinda), September 18
Farmers of village Machhana in Bathinda district have set a novel example when it comes to diversification of crops.
Instead of cultivating the traditional major crops, farmers here have taken the initiative to grow chilly in a major way.


Terming the diversification a wise decision, the farmers feel happy with the income their crop generates which they claim is much more than paddy, cotton and wheat.
During a visit to village Machhana, TNS found acres of land covered with chillies (green and red).
There is hardly a family in the village that has around 175 homes, that does not grow chillies in its fields.
Sharing his experience, Raj Pal Singh, a farmer, who has grown chillies in one acre out of his total eight-acre land said, "It was a right decision. Four years back, I opted to grow chillies in my fields and I have been getting handsome return."
Speaking further, he said that the life of a chilly plant is one year and after that, the plant has to be uprooted and new saplings are planted on the same land after a gap of two years.
It takes only 10-15 days for plucking, depending on the climate. Saplings are planted in February and plucking starts from May, which continues till January.
When asked about the marketing hassles, he said buyers from Faridkot, Kotkapura and Jind in Haryana come to the village to purchase chillies and pay in cash.
Rupinder Singh, another farmer, said that finding chilly production profitable, he had grown the plants a second time.
"Though I have a small piece of land that is around three acres, I have planted chilly saplings in one acre. I have sown the Korean variety which we get from Nagra and Sheron villages near Sunam in Punjab," he added.
Sharing views, Megh Raj, who has planted chillies in six kanal of land, spoke about the disease which causes the leaves of the chilly plant to shrink and burn. He said the crop is sensitive and accumulation of water has to be prevented near it.
"Heavy rainfall or waterlogging damages the crop rapidly. Moreover, it requires canal water as groundwater is not suitable for irrigation due to contamination," he added.
About the expenditure incurred on planting the crop, the farmers said that a sapling costs around 40 paisa but pesticides have to be sprayed a number of times to protect the plant from diseases.
However, the villagers did not sound very enthusiastic when asked about the possibility of launching a processing unit as joint venture.
They also regretted that none of the agricultural or administrative officials had come to the village to help them in promoting this crop diversification.