Ramanathapuram’s Mundu Chilli & Vellore’s Spiny Brinjal get GI tags

MADURAI, VELLORE: Ramanathapuram’s ‘Mundu Chilli’ and Vellore’s Elavambadi spiny brinjal (VRM 1 Mullukathiri) have been conferred with GI tags placing Tamil Nadu in the second position among the states. With this recognition, the farmers of both crops are expecting a better market for their produce.

The spiny brinjal, known for its special spines, was made famous when former president R Venkataraman took some of them to New Delhi as he loved the taste.

“We get around 5 tonnes per acre when we use organic farming methods while the yield can be doubled with the use of chemical fertilizer. As the pucca taste is possible only with organic farming, farmers feel that the yield is not enough to make ends meet and hence there are very few takers for it,” Said M Ramesh a local farmer who cultivates the crop in 1 acre.

Efforts to get a GI tag for the crop started two years ago when the then Vellore sub-collector Aishwarya contacted the local horticultural department for action.

In Vellore, this vegetable is sold at the “nam Sandai” at the Yelagiri hall on Sundays at Rs. 40-Rs.50/ kilogram with the leftovers being sold to CMC hospital for a flat Rs.60 per kilo, sources revealed.

The ‘Mundu Chilli,’ which is grown under arid conditions in many parts across Ramanathapuram, possess unique traits such as the ability to withstand drought and salinity.

According to farmer K. Gandhirajan, managing director, of Ramnad Mundu Chilli Producers Company limited, the salty air gives a unique pungent taste to the crop.

The crop was traditionally known as ‘Kundu Chilli.’ The ‘GI’ application for the crop was made two years ago by his company with the aid of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The crop has a market across Tamil Nadu and also in Mangalore, Bengaluru and Mysuru of Karnataka, Kerala and Assam.