-RuralIndiaOnline.org J. Adaikalaselvi, a farmer in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu’s top chilli -producing district, takes us through the hurdles in producing the lucrative crop: price fluctuations, water scarcity and climate change There’s a small cloud of dust, and the phut-phut of an engine: Adaikalaselvi comes riding on a bike, wearing a blue saree, a big nose ring, and a wide smile. A few minutes earlier, she had instructed us – from her chilli...

-The Hindu Business Line Pesticide residues in India’s agri exports calls for a multi-pronged policy response As reported recently by this newspaper, India’s cumin exports have suffered a setback in recent months, with China claiming that pesticide residues exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs) spelt out by it about six months back. Chinese authorities have said that consignments must be accompanied by a pesticide residue report. India has been through all this...

-Down to Earth Farmers are being pushed to suicide amid market shortage   Chilli farmers in Telangana’s Subakkapalli village, Bhopalapalli district, are living their worst nightmare. A new pest, black thrips (Thrips parvispinus), has destroyed over 40 hectares (ha) of standing crop in a matter of months. In Sidduri Ravindra Rao’s farm, the initial signs of the attack were reported in the first week of December last year. He increased the frequency of...

-Down to Earth There has been no announcement on compensation to farmers who have lost their crops Twenty farmers have died by suicide since January 2022 in Telangana’s Mahabubad district after insect infestation destroyed their Chilli crop, a ground survey by the Human Rights Forum (HRF) and Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV) has claimed. Five suicides have also been reported in Khammam district. Thrips parvispinus, an invasive pest from Indonesia, has spread rapidly, especially...

-The Hindu Activist of RSV and HRF make field visit for two days Hyderabad: Some 20 chilli farmers had ended their lives in the last two months in Mahabubabad district alone unable to come out of the debt trap, claims a report. The condition of the families of the farmers who had committed suicide is so pathetic that they do not know what to do and where to go. These facts came to...