GUNTUR: Good crop of Suvarna variety of chillies in West Bengal has suddenly brought down the demand for Guntur chillies leading to slump in Asia's biggest marketyard for chillies here.

Guntur Agriculture Market Yard that witnessed never-before feverish pitch of trading last week with highest-ever price (Rs.7,400 per quintal) offered for fresh produce, saw reduced arrivals following price falling by more than Rs.1,400 per quintal for various varieties.

The Model Price (average for all varieties) coming down by about Rs.1,000 per quintal. The highest during the season offered during last four years was only Rs.2,900 per quintal.

The total crop in West Bengal is expected to be between 15 lakhs to 20 lakhs of tikkis (bags) that would last for 15 to 20 days and during that time demand for Guntur crop will be low, point out traders.

The arrivals at Guntur yard had been consistent at average of 50,000 tikkis per day ever since end-February beginning of the season.

While the top class varieties like Agni Rekha, Wonder Hot, Teja and Indo 5 had been fetching between Rs.5,200 and Rs.6,000 per quintal during this week. Other ordinary varieties had fetched between Rs.4,200 and Rs.5,500 per quintal.

The lower grade/discoloured varieties fetched between Rs.1,200 and Rs.3,000 per quintal last week, which came down by Rs.800 per quintal.

Intermittent rains and lower export orders had added to the lesser demand on the market during this week, which encouraged several traders and farmers to keep their stocks in the cold storages.

Against a capacity of about 50 lakh tikkis in the cold storages in Guntur about 43 lakh tikkies had been stored this season of which this week alone contributed 20 lakh tikkis.

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