Hyderabad: Angered over the gimmicks of middlemen and traders at the Mahbub Mansion Market in Malakpet, red chilli farmers held a massive protest demanding minimum support price. The hour-long protest at the main gate of the market led to a heavy traffic jam on Vijayawada highway. The jam impacted traffic at Chaderghat, Koti, and L.B. Nagar.

Officials said the harvest of red chillies was good this year but demand has dropped. Farmers said that last month they got at least Rs 5,000 a quintal but on Monday the price dropped to Rs 2,000. G. Ramesh, a trader said the market had been insisting that farmers should not come for at least four days as there was no storage space.

“All traders are having excess stock. On Monday, about 15,000 quintals were registered. Due to lack of space most traders did not buy and some middlemen tried to exploit them by offering lesser prices,” he said. At present the price is very good at Rs 5,000 to Rs. 6,000 a quintal. We are requesting farmers to hold their stocks at villages and send it after three or four days," he said.