The good yield of red chilli milagai vathal variety in the Kolathur area near Mettur has brought much cheer to farmers and traders alike.
Kolathur area is a major milagai vathal production centre in the State.
A large number of farmers of the Kolathur and the surrounding villages of Govindapadi, Kottaiyuyr, Kathiripatti, Karungallur, Moolakkadu, Vellakarattur, Sethukuli, Sathyanagar and Thanamoorthikadu have raised this variety on hundreds of acres on the banks of River Cauvery.
Speciality
The speciality of the red chilli milagai vathal variety is that it is highly caustic and rich in flavour; and it fetches prospective price in the market for the farmers.
The crop, which can be harvested for four months between February and May every year, has registered higher productivity this season.
The farmers allow the chillies to ripen in the field itself without harvesting them immediately.
After full growth, the farmers dry it before marketing them as vathal , for which the demand has always been on the rise.
The red chilli shandy meets twice a week – Tuesdays and Fridays – in Kolathur.
The shandy has evoked overwhelming response since last month and the traders of Salem and the neighbouring districts of Coimbatore, Erode and Tirupur vie with each other in visiting the Kolathur shandy to procure the high quality milagai vathal .
What has brought much delight to the farmers, apart from the good yield this season, is the prospective price in the market.
A kg of milagai vathal ranged between Rs. 110 and Rs. 115 this week, compared to Rs. 85 and Rs. 95 it fetched during the third week of March.
S. Krishnasamy, a red chilli farmer of Kolathur, expects the price to go up further in the weeks to come.
