IPM Chilli- A trip to Bellary!

Chilli is the most exported spice from India. (~1.09Bn USD in FY22)

I have recently visited a few villages in the Bellary region in Karnataka and Syngenta 5531 is the most popular variety of Chilli grown in the region using IPM practices. Speaking to a few farmers in Bellary growing IPM Chilli I learnt that they majorly followed the fertilizer/pesticide used as per recommendations from input companies.

"We use green marked pesticides and not blue marked to grow IPM"- one farmer mentioned.

Green is the least toxic as per Insecticides Act of 1968[1] and the Insecticides Rules of 1971 (Wikipedia):

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a broad term which signifies practices that comply with low MRL (minimum residue levels). IPM programs use current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment. This information alongside available pest control methods are used to manage pest damage by the most economical means, and with the least possible hazard to people, land, and the environment.

I visited 2 villages where most farmers are Telugu speakers and were natives of Guntakal which is around 50kms from Bellary. These farmers have leased lands (avg. 15-20 hectares per farmer) from landowners of Bellary who have moved out of farming and have gone into more "stable" professions.

When I asked about their incentives to grow IPM Chilli, they told me that they get better prices for IPM produce from customers and its better for soil health too. However real the benefits are environmentally and for soil health, it appears that the real driver for farmers to adopt IPM practices are seeing if their neighbouring farmers can get better incomes through the practices. Soil health improvements are tangible but are not a large incentive for farmers who are leasing land over short durations. (14% of farmer households reported leasing land in 2013 survey, this number is increasing with new tenancy reforms). Also few on-ground organisations from FPOs to NGOS and traders promote these practices by providing trainings and helping them sell their IPM produce at fair prices.

Another practice that farmers follow in this region is that they provide seeds to nearby nurseries to grow the saplings which they then plant in their fields. Nurseries take 45 days to grow these saplings and take INR 0.4/sapling for their efforts. This reduces risk for the farmer as nurseries shelter the young saplings from adverse weather until they are ready to get transplanted.

There were green Chillis growing on plants which were over 90 days old (+ 45 days from transplanting). Some farmers harvest and sell green Chilli (mostly in APMCs) if prices are good and they need income for their cash flow, and others wait for red Chilli to mature (which takes 6-9 months) before they harvest.

Last season, farmers lost 50-90% of the harvest because of floods & thrips (insects) damages and they were reluctant to grow Chilli this season. Instead many are growing Maize which is safer than chilli. E.g. A farmer cultivated chilli in 40 hectares last season expecting a yield of 100 tonnes but harvested only 3 tonnes – a huge loss! This year he has cultivated maize on his full plot. Issues/perceived risks in supply have pushed Chilli prices to 1.5-2x over the previous season. These costs of climate change, which are not clearly visible and take time to surface, have to be paid by both farmers and consumers.

From a Return-on-Investment point of view, Chilli is a high risk high reward crop as the prices are good, relative to other crops, but there is a high risk of low yields (adverse weather and pests) and price volatility.

There are clearly a lot of benefits of growing crops sustainability (e.g. IPM, Organic and a plethora of sustainable practices) for farmers, consumers and overall environment. However, the inertia set up within the agriculture system must be broken. This includes the reducing the hold over practices from the chemical input companies, establishing clear incentives for farmers to grow more sustainably(better prices, buyback guarantee etc.) and working closely with champion farmers who can lead the charge for others.

We at Farm-Hand Ltd are building models/tech. such that the farmers gets paid better for growing sustainably and buyers get sustainable, high quality and traceable commodities without the intermediaries.

We are looking to work with buyers for sustainably grown produce and implementation partners who will help for on-ground execution.

Please reach out at tarun.g@farm-hand.in if you are interested.

Abhimanyu Bhargava Farm-Hand Ltd

#ipm #sustainableagriculture #safefood #spices #chilli #bellary