Local chilli price soars
Customers feel BAFRA should regulate price
It is sunny these days and farmers in western Bhutan are making hay.
With the Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (BAFRA) banning the import of all types of chillies from India after detecting banned pesticide in them, the cost of chilies in the market is skyrocketing.
BAFRA banned Indian chilies after detecting the presence of 4-Bromo-2-Cholorophenol pesticides.
As of yesterday, local chillies from Punakha and Paro were selling between Nu 150 to 200 at the Centenary Farmers Market. Chilies start reaching the market as early as Thursday morning. Countless utility vehicles laden with vegetables throng the market on Thursday morning with chili being one of the most sought after vegetable by the middlemen.
The chilies are actually not as expensive as it is. A sack load of green chillies is sold between Nu 800 and 1,000 to the middlemen by farmers. The price immediately gets hiked when the middlemen retail them.
Tashi Tshering from Paro said this year because of the ban of Indian chilli, local chillies have a huge demand in Thimphu. Tashi Tshering sold his chillies to Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB), Phuentsholing usually. “The price is good this year,” he said.
Rada Dema from Punakha nearly got trampled when she was unloading her chillies. Middlemen at the market swarmed around her. She sold her eight sacks for Nu 7,200 last week. She brought 15 sack loads yesterday. The middlemen are willing to pay as high as Nu 1,100.
Within minutes she sold her 15 sack loads. As busy farmers, farmers like Rada prefers selling in bulk and return home to tend to their fields. Besides they also do not have places to sell their produce at the market.
Phub Dorji from Paro said every week the demand for chilli is increasing. “This is good for farmers,” he said. “The ban came at the right time. It is an indication that local farmers can supply the need.”
Meanwhile, customers are not happy. As chilli is an indispensible vegetable, they feel that price should be controlled by the government as farmers are over pricing.
Office goers, Sangay Peldon said Bhutanese cannot have a single meal without chillies and the price is affecting all. Another customer, Tempa Tshering said while it is good to see farmers making money, price middlemen charge should be regulated.
Others said that both farmers and customers are getting cheated by the middlemen. “The price is reasonable when we buy directly from the farmers, but it is the middlemen who hoard and hike the price,” he said. “Nobody is saying anything or doing anything.”
A corporate employee, Tenzin Dorji said BAFRA should intervene. “The middlemen are robbing us. They cannot take advantage of the ban and charge exorbitant price,” he said.
Chilli growing regions like Thimphu and Paro produce chilies until late October. Tsirang and Punakha have started producing nee varieties of chilies that look like the small Indian chilies
Customers feel BAFRA should regulate price
It is sunny these days and farmers in western Bhutan are making hay.
With the Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (BAFRA) banning the import of all types of chillies from India after detecting banned pesticide in them, the cost of chilies in the market is skyrocketing.
BAFRA banned Indian chilies after detecting the presence of 4-Bromo-2-Cholorophenol pesticides.
As of yesterday, local chillies from Punakha and Paro were selling between Nu 150 to 200 at the Centenary Farmers Market. Chilies start reaching the market as early as Thursday morning. Countless utility vehicles laden with vegetables throng the market on Thursday morning with chili being one of the most sought after vegetable by the middlemen.
The chilies are actually not as expensive as it is. A sack load of green chillies is sold between Nu 800 and 1,000 to the middlemen by farmers. The price immediately gets hiked when the middlemen retail them.
Tashi Tshering from Paro said this year because of the ban of Indian chilli, local chillies have a huge demand in Thimphu. Tashi Tshering sold his chillies to Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB), Phuentsholing usually. “The price is good this year,” he said.
Rada Dema from Punakha nearly got trampled when she was unloading her chillies. Middlemen at the market swarmed around her. She sold her eight sacks for Nu 7,200 last week. She brought 15 sack loads yesterday. The middlemen are willing to pay as high as Nu 1,100.
Within minutes she sold her 15 sack loads. As busy farmers, farmers like Rada prefers selling in bulk and return home to tend to their fields. Besides they also do not have places to sell their produce at the market.
Phub Dorji from Paro said every week the demand for chilli is increasing. “This is good for farmers,” he said. “The ban came at the right time. It is an indication that local farmers can supply the need.”
Meanwhile, customers are not happy. As chilli is an indispensible vegetable, they feel that price should be controlled by the government as farmers are over pricing.
Office goers, Sangay Peldon said Bhutanese cannot have a single meal without chillies and the price is affecting all. Another customer, Tempa Tshering said while it is good to see farmers making money, price middlemen charge should be regulated.
Others said that both farmers and customers are getting cheated by the middlemen. “The price is reasonable when we buy directly from the farmers, but it is the middlemen who hoard and hike the price,” he said. “Nobody is saying anything or doing anything.”
A corporate employee, Tenzin Dorji said BAFRA should intervene. “The middlemen are robbing us. They cannot take advantage of the ban and charge exorbitant price,” he said.
Chilli growing regions like Thimphu and Paro produce chilies until late October. Tsirang and Punakha have started producing nee varieties of chilies that look like the small Indian chilies
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