The pandemic and its impact on the economy had compelled the to reduce its revenue forecast for what is considered the largestchillimarket in Asia:Byadagiin Haveri district.
Although the state government had set a revenue target of Rs 9.5 crore from the market for the 2021-22 fiscal year, the market has already registered a turnover of Rs 11.2 crore, having far outstripped the conservative estimate of the state government.
In 2020-21, when the state government had forecast that the Byadagi market would register revenue to the tune of Rs 15 crore, the sales touched a sum of Rs 18 crore. The stakeholders attributed the impressive sales to the reduction in theAgriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture Produce Market Committee(APMC) cess.
The spike in the price of Byadagi Chilli, with one quintal of the crop selling for a record Rs 70,000, ensured that the many farmers in North Karnataka continued cultivating it. The sale of Byadagi Chilli helped increase revenue of the market this year, with the crop registering sales higher than what it had registered in the previous fiscal year.