Chilli farmers in Mahawilachchiya have raised serious concerns over deeply unfair market practices, claiming they are being forced to sell their produce at unsustainably low prices despite soaring input costs.
As the harvest season gets underway, farmers say traders are purchasing chillies for less than Rs. 200 per kilogram, a price they insist does not even cover their expenses.
However, they point out that the same produce is being sold at markedly higher prices in retail markets, with middlemen allegedly reaping the profits.
“We spend heavily on fertilizer, labour, and water. But when it’s time to sell, we’re offered rock-bottom prices,” said one farmer, who, like many others, called on government authorities to urgently intervene.
The farmers are urging state officials to establish direct purchasing mechanisms or price controls that would protect them from exploitation by intermediaries.
They warn that without corrective action, chilli cultivation in the region, a key agricultural area in the North Central Province, could decline sharply.
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