Rising input costs drop half chilli cultivation acres

The acre of chilli plantation has dropped by half this year because of rising input costs, said Daw Ohnma Kyaw, chair of Myanmar Chilli Market and Technical Development Association.
Besides, the COVID-19 pandemic has put pressure on chilli demand due to uncertainty about foreign markets and restrictions on cash withdrawals from the banks, she added.
“50 per cent acreage of Chili was reduced due to the rising of fertilizers price and input costs. The restrictions of the banks are also one of the reasons. Consequently, chilli cultivation has dropped by 50 per cent compared to last year. The farmers can no longer afford to buy the fertilizers because the price is hiking these days. The input costs and chilli seeds are also expensive. Rapidly rising production costs related to farm input price inflation is a concern for agricultural producers,” said Daw Ohnmar Kyaw.
The chilli from Kyaukse township could not be exported as the border checkpoint in Muse, one of the main border trading checkpoints for Myanmar-China border trade, were halted starting from 8 July. For that reason, Myanmar exported fresh chilli to Thailand via the Myawady border trade.
Further, the price of fresh chilli exported to Thailand is lower than the price registered last year. This year, the fresh chilli fetched only K1,300 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kg). Last year, the price hit a record high of K5,000-6,000 per viss, the association stated.
Myanmar’s fresh chilli pepper is shipped to Viet Nam via the sea route and primarily sent to China and Thailand via land borders.
Myanmar chillies are grown mostly in the Ayeyawady region and Kyaukse township of the Mandalay region. The export varieties of fresh chilli pepper are 692, 777, 999, Kartar, Demon, Sunshine and Lucky One. — NN/GNLM