Pandiamma, 37, works with raw, scraped palms as the March heat bakes her village of Mattiyarenthal in Tamil Nadu. The air is sharp with the scent of sun-dried chilies. She stands among sprawled carpets of mundu chiles — a compact, cherry-red local variety sown during the October–November monsoon and harvested from January through May. After harvest the peppers must be spread to dry for five to ten days and watched constantly: a sudden shower can spoil an entire batch.
The mundu crop is brutally hands-on. Pickers crouch to pluck each pod, then spread, sort and guard the fruit through long days and sleepless nights. The work is seasonal, punishing and poorly suited to mechanization, which women in the area say is one reason men rarely take it on. “Not many men step up to do it under these conditions,” Pandiamma says, adding that the intense labor makes the crop a crucial source of seasonal income for households. A strong harvest can carry a family through the rest of the year.
Women are the backbone of agriculture here. Vallal Kannan of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, a government agricultural extension center, estimates that women perform more than 70 percent of farm duties in the region. Some women own their plots, others farm rented land or work as wage laborers at harvest. Dozens of self-help groups, women’s producer companies and informal savings circles organize labor, pool resources and provide small loans.
On a mid-March afternoon, 44-year-old Rajeshwari returns from the fields with bucket after bucket of bright chilies. She began before dawn and spent the day picking and sorting. Back home she inspects drying chilies by hand, removing pale or damaged pods that sell for far less than the deep-red, glossy fruit. Top-quality chiles fetch roughly 300 rupees per kilo (about $3), and in a good season a woman farming an acre can clear around $2,000 — a meaningful sum in a rural economy. Size and rich color determine prices, so grading is not just meticulous work; it directly affects livelihoods.
This season, prices jumped after last year’s unseasonal rains flooded fields and spread fungal diseases that cut supply. But weather unpredictability and the patchy availability of formal protections are constant threats. Rasakumari, 60, who cultivates 15 acres, lost seven acres when a reservoir overflowed during off-season rains. Mundu chiles are not included under the region’s crop insurance schemes, so she received no compensation. Many women also lack clear land titles, which blocks access to low-interest credit that requires land as collateral.
To cope, women rely on strong community networks and local services. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra and private farmer groups such as the Thiruvadanai Nerkkalanjiyam Farmer Producer Company run training in organic methods and other ways to raise returns. Vellimalar, a social worker and managing trustee, helps hundreds of women secure loans, understand policy and improve practices. Informal banking groups — more than 8,000 among pepper producers — collect tiny monthly savings so members can borrow for emergencies, seeds or tools. Still, not everyone qualifies: some groups set age limits, leaving older women like Veni, 62, who tends two acres after her husband’s stroke, excluded from funds she could use to hire help.
Farmers have developed field-level strategies to boost resilience. Intercropping chilies with eggplant, tomatoes, onions, cluster beans, groundnuts or cotton adds extra income and spreads risk. Castor plants along borders act as trap crops to divert pests away from chilies. Goats are common because they provide year-round income through milk, meat and manure; many women say goat-rearing smooths cash flow between cropping seasons. “To me, goats mean freedom and security,” says Nagavalli, 42.
Practical infrastructure has eased some pressures. A government-run cold-storage facility in Ettivayal offers inexpensive space — about 18 US cents a month for a 55-pound sack — allowing farmers to hold stocks and sell when prices are better. Motorcycles subsidized for working women help transport sacks from fields to homes and markets. Yet many smallholders must sell immediately to settle debts and household bills, limiting their ability to wait out low prices. Once produce leaves the farm, dealers and middlemen often dominate pricing.
The days are long and relentless. Women move quickly in the sun — some can fill ten buckets in ten minutes — then spend evenings grading fruit and standing guard over drying piles. They sleep lightly during the monsoon months, listening for rain and readying tarpaulins to protect exposed heaps. Despite the physical toll, many value the independence the work brings and the solidarity forged in collective groups, microfinance schemes and producer companies that have strengthened bargaining power.
In 2026 the United Nations declared the International Year of the Woman Farmer, aiming to highlight the essential and often overlooked labor of women in agriculture. For mundu chile pickers in Ramanathapuram district, the work remains risky and arduous, but it also provides income, agency and a degree of freedom. “Chile brings heat into our lives,” says Victoria, 39, “and despite the hardships, it has given us freedom.”
Kamala Thiagarajan is a freelance journalist in Madurai who covers global health, science and development.