The market price of chilies has been declining steadily in Chin state, Burma and it has had a direct impact on the cultivators.
According to a report, most of the traders are apprehensive of purchasing chilies from the cultivators of Chin state, in order to export to Mizoram, as the Indo-Myanmar money exchange rate has already fallen.. As a result, there is an abundance of chili in Falam Township in Chin state.
A local person said that the previous wholesale price was about Ks. 20,000/- per tin but now it is only Ks. 4500/- due to the low exchange rate. The cultivators, therefore, are having a great deal of trouble to sell their cultivated chili.
“Some cultivators sell small amounts of chili. As the rainy season is approaching, chili will be soon spoilt. We do not know what to do regarding this,” a local farmer said.
According to a source, Falam Township is the largest chili producer in Chin state and 70% of the population in the area has their own chili plantations.. Those areas are Zongte, Thipcang, Silawn, Siallam, Saek, Tihbual, Satawm, Vangva, Thingcang, Tilum, Auhmun, Lumte and Laizawl village.
The local products of chilies are mainly used for export to Mizoram State, India. However, now the cultivators are facing a crisis due to the low money exchange rate and they might not make profits on their products.
“Actually, we are selling chilies at Rs. 70 per one kilogram in Mizoram, but to sell over 600 kgs of chilies takes at least two months. At the same time if we deduct house rent charge, food and other expenses we cannot make profit. Not only that money exchange rate is currently Ks. 19/- only,” a trader in Aizawl told Khonumthung News.
In fact, most of the traders located in the Indo-Myanmar border areas are discontinuing their businesses as exchange rates have been steadily declining.
“We, cultivators cannot make any profit, from whatever we have cultivated on our lands. We are used to political and economic crisis from the other side and it ruins all our products. It is very hard to say which the best plantation for us is, in order to get some benefits,” a farmer from Falam Township said.
