KHAMMAM: Getting a place in a cold storage to keep their harvested produce, particularly chilies, is turning out to be a herculean task for farmers, who have raised the crop over 56,000 acres in Khammam district.
N. Ananthaiah, a farmer from Konigerla, has been trying continuously to get a place for storing his harvested chili in any of the cold storages in Khammam. He even approached a TRS leader for recommendation, but even that did not help.
This is not case only with Ananthaiah but many other chili farmers.
There are 18 cold storages in Khammam with total storage capacity of 22 lakh quintals. However, all the space in these storages is reportedly full of various farm produce harvested in the previous season, including chilies. These stocks had arrived in the godowns before the lockdown.
With no space to store their latest drop, farmers have stacked chilies in their fields. But they are fearful of unseasonal rains destroying their crop. The district has already witnessed two spells of rain in the last 20 days.
Currently, no stocks are being lifted as agricultural markets in Khammam, Nelakondapalli, Madhira, Kallur, Wyra and Sattupalli have been closed as part of lockdown.
Mandadapu Sudhakar, a farmer said the government should at least lease private godowns if the chili crop is to be stored safely.
Following repeated pleas from farmers, Khammam Agricultural Market Committee is planning open the market from May 24 for limited hours. Gudavarthi Srinivasa Rao, a chili trader said farmers have about two lakh quintals of chili with them. If the government opens the market, it would be of great help to the farmers.
Some farmers have complained that they can get some space in godowns only if they pay more money than the fixed charges to cold storage owners.
