Tension gripped Singarayapalem village in Konijerla mandal on Thursday as aggrieved chilli farmers detained two Agriculture Department officials for some time in their fields demanding action against spurious chilli seed menace.
Angry farmers staged protests in the village over huge crop loss suffered by them due to the alleged spurious chilli seeds. They also demanded compensation for crop loss.
In a symbolic protest, a section of farmers destroyed the stunted chilli crop blaming the seed dealer concerned for allegedly inflicting huge loss on them.
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An aggrieved chilli farmer made an abortive attempt to consume pesticide unable to bear the crop loss. The villagers prevented him from taking the extreme step.
They called off the agitation after a joint team of officials of Agriculture and Horticulture departments assured them that deterrent action would be taken against the seed dealer if found guilty of selling spurious seeds.
They said a team of horticulture scientists from Hyderabad would visit the village to ascertain the exact cause of the failure of chilli crop.
Joint Director of Agriculture Department Jhansi Lakshmi Kumari and others visited the chilli fields later in the day.
