Chilli and Capsicum

Botanical Name : Capsicum annuum var.annuum, and Capsicum annum var.grossum

Family : Solanaceae
Chromosome number : 2n=24.
Origin : Central and South America
Common name : Chilli (Hot pepper), Capsicum (Sweet pepper & Bell pepper)
Area and production
 At present chillies and capsicums are grown in all most all states of the country.
 The major chilli growing states are Andhra pradesh, Karnataka, Maharastra, Orissa,
Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan.
 Within a span of over four centuries, it has spread to an area of around 0.8 million ha.
The area and production keeps varying depending on price fluctuations and the
weather conditions.
 Area has been varying between 0.982 and 0.816 million ha and production 61,82,000
and 86,200 tonnes of dry chilli.
 Andhra Pradesh has been leading both in area and production contributing on average
of 25 per cent of the total area and over 40 to 50 per cent of the total production.
 Chillies have adapted very well to the Indian condition so that, India is considered as
secondary centre of origin.
 India is the major producer, consumer and exporter of chilli in the world.
Table: Major Chilli growing states in India

State Area (000 ha) Production(000 tonnes)

Andhra Pradesh 249.40 400.60

Karnataka 161.00 97.40

 Maharashtra 132.7 68.40

Orissa 94.5 75.60

Tamil Nadu 86.5 45.70

West Bengal 55.10 44.40

India 962.10 862.01

Source : Directorate of Economics &statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt of India.
 Capsicum also known as Bell pepper and is restricted to cooler regions of the country
and periphery of cities with cooler weather.
 As such capsicum are grown around cities like Bangalore, Belgaum and Mysore
(Karnataka), Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu), Pune, Thane (Maharashtra), Ranchi (Jharkhand),
Darjeeling (West Bengal), Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir and hills of
Uttar Pradesh.
Economic importance and uses
 Chilli is mainly used in culinary purpose for adding flavour, colour, and pungency.
 Dry chilli, powdered or ground into a paste and even green chillies are used for
curries, sambars, rasam and other dishes to impart pungency, colour and flavour to
food items.
 It is widely used in the manufacture of curry powder, curry paste and all kinds of
pickles and preparing sauce, soups, salads etc.
 In food and beverage industries chilli is being used in the form of oleoresin which
permits better distribution of colour, flavour in food.
 Capsaicin, the pungent principle, is used in the preparation of balms, whereas the
colour extracts ,
 Capsanthin (C40H56O3, carotenoids pigments) find use as colour additives (Red color)
in food industry, poultry and prawn feed industry. Raw green as well as fried one are
used as such for eating.
 Capsaicin (N-vanillyl-8-methyl-6-E-noneamide, C18H27NO3) is present in cores or
septa walls and at placenta.
 Heatness of Naga King Chilli-10,01,304 SHU. Heatness of chilli is measured by
Scovonelle Heat Units (SHU).
 Chilli and capsicum are often cross pollinated.
 Fruit is a multi seeded berry
  Capsicum is mostly consumed raw in green mature forms unlike in Europe and US
where they are consumed in red ripe form in salads, cooked, mixed and stuffed
vegetables.
 Green chilli is rich in rutin (used for pharmaceutical use as they are rich in
antibacterial and antioxidant). Rutin is known as Vitamin P.
 Amount of capsaicin in green chilli ranges from 160-210 mg/100gm and ripe fruit
is green chilli ranges from 113-160 mg/100gm
Origin and Distribution
The centre of morphological diversity for C annuum is probably Mexico.
There are five domesticated species Capsicum annuum, Capsicum frutescens, Capsicum
chinense, capsicum baccatum and Capsicum pubescens.
Varieties of chilli
MDU-1:Developed from TNAU, Madurai in 1975 by Irradiation (Mutation). It is a dwarf and
cluster bearing fruit type plant.
Punjab Lal: From PAU in 1985. Resistant to TMV, CMV leaf curl virus, moderately
resistant to fruit rot and die back.
KTPL 19: from IARI in 1994 by pure line selection, It is a paprika variety suitable for
colour extraction.
K-1: It is a selection from Assam type chilli i.e. B72A.
K-2: It is released from TNAU. This is a hybrid derivation of K1 and sathur samba.
Co-1: Developed at TNAU, Coimbatore. It is a selection from a Samba type from sathur
Samba.
Co-3: Released by TNAU, Coimbatore. It is a selection from Sri Lankan introduction.
PKM 1:Developed at TNAU, Coimbatore.
G-4 (Bagyalaxmi):
G-5 (Andra Jyothi): It is a cross between G-2 and Bihar variety (1331) which is tolerant to
thrips.
NP 46A: This variety is evolved at IARI.
Pusa Jwala: Released at IARI, New Delhi.
Pant C-1: Developed from GBPUAT.
Pant C-2:.
Arka Abir: released through pure lime selection. It is suitable for colour extraction.
Sindhur: The fruits have deep red thick pericarp.
JCA154:This is pickling cultivar from JNKV Madhya Pradesh.
Pusa Sadabahar: This is a multipurpose chilli cultivar. It can be consumed green and used
for preparation of red powder and manufacture of oleoresin.
X-235 (Bhaskar): Flowers with yellow anthers as markers.
Arka Lohit: released by IIHR, Bangalore..
Arka Harita: High yielding chilli F1 hybrid developed by using MS line.
Arka Meghana: High yielding chilli F1 hybrid developed by using MS line. Tolerant to
powdery mildew and viruses.
Arka Suphal PMR 57: Resistant to powdery mildew and field tolerant to viruses.
Arka Sweta: High yielding chilli F1 hybrid developed by using MS line.
Samrudhi: Released by UAS, Bangalore suitable for growing under rainfed conditions.
Jwala Sakhi:.
Jwala Mukhi:It is developed at KAU.
Arka Abir: from IIHR in 1995. It is a paprika variety suitable for colour extraction
CH-1: F1 hybrid variety developed at PAU, Ludhiana using Genetic male sterile line.
Bell pepper varieties
Sweet Banana:
California Wonder: It is an introduction from USA.
Chinese Giant:.
King of North
World Beater:.
Yolo Wonder:.
Bharat: This is F1 hybrid released by IAHS Bangalore. It is resistant to TMV.
Arka Gaurav: Selection from golden California wonder of USA. Plants indeterminate.
Arka Basant: Indeterminate plant habit with yellow green foliage.
Arka Mohini: Determinate plant habit with dark green foliage.
Pusa Deepti: IARI, katrain. It is a F1 hybrid,
KT 1: It is evolved at IARI sub station katrain. It is high yielding F1 hybrid.
Climate
 Chilli performs well in warm humid tropical and subtropical regions.
 It is being cultivated from sea level to almost 2000 m above MSL.
 A frost free period of about 130-150 days with temperature range of 15-35°C is
optimum for chilli cultivation.
  Comparatively milder climate conditions are preferred for sweet or bell pepper.
A soil temperature of 10°C or less retards crop growth.
 Prevalence of low temperature during fruit ripening is likely to delay colour
development of fruits.
 Temperature beyond 40°C result in poor fruit set as well as severe fruit drop.
 As a rainfed crop, chilli performs well in regions receiving rainfall of 600-1200 mm
spread over four to five months.
 Areas receiving < 600mm of rainfall require a few protective irrigation for better crop
yields. Successful crop of bell pepper can be raised only under irrigated condition
providing shade to sweet or bell peppers through poly or net houses during summer
and only shade nets and open during other seasons is beneficial.
 At high humidity the crop is affected by mildews and Anthracnose.
Soil
 Chilli can be grown in wide range of soils but well drained loam soil rich in organic
matter is best suited for chilli cultivars.
 As a rainfed crop chilli can be grown successfully in medium to heavy textured soils
like clay loams provided proper drainage to prevent water stagnation.
 Chilli crop will not withstand water logged conditions for more than a day.
 A good crop of chilli can be raised on red sandy and sandy loam soils, as an irrigated
crop, with copious amount of organic manuring and fertilizer application is necessary
to get optimum growth of the plant.
 It performs best at a soil pH of about 6.5.
 Bell pepper performs best on red and alluvial soil with slightly acidic pH and
having good drainage and aeration.
Seasons
 In many parts of the country it is grown in all the three main cropping seasons.
 During monsoon the crop is mainly grown for dry red chillies while in
other seasons it is mostly for green chillies.
 Crop grown in summer season most likely affected by complex virus diseases.
 Chilli cannot be grown during winter in North India as the temperature is quite low,
which the crop cannot with stand.
  Capsicums are known to perform better in winter or rabi season and when they are
grown in summer, yields are also very low due to poor crop growing and fruit set and
also severe diseases, especially virus in hills.
Cropping system
 With the pressure on cultivated land increasing one way to best production is to
increase the crop productivity and the other alternative is to improve the land
productivity per unit area and time through multiple cropping.
 Incidence of fruit rot, bacterial & viral diseases can be minimized by raising chilli
crop in rotation with cereals and pulses.
 Sorghum yields are higher when raised after chilli crop, Chilli and paddy are
common rotations followed in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
 Soybean was found to be quite compatible as mixed crop with chilli in Karnataka.
 Chilli and cotton intercropping is very popular in transitional tract of Karnataka.
 The highest yields, in nutritional terms, were obtained with intercropping
beetroots, knol-khol and peas with capsicum.
 For dry regions of southern Karnataka, Chilli crop grown for green fruits can be
intercropped with Ragi under rainfed conditions on red clay loam soils.
Nursery practices
 Layout and maintenance of nursery is similar to tomato.
 The light seeds of chilli remain viable for 2 years.
 About 1500 gm of seeds are required to raise seedlings to plant one ha of land in
chilli and 250gm/ha for hybrid and 300 gm/ha in open pollinated varieties of
capsicum.
 To ensure healthy seedlings it is better to cover the beds with 40 mesh nylon nets
which protect the seedlings from feeding by virus carrying vectors.
 Clipping of capsicum as well as chilli seedlings about 10 days prior to
transplanting helps in better establishment of transplanted seedlings and also
accelerate the growth of auxiliary buds resulting in better branching.
 In chilli and capsicum about 42-45 days old seedlings having 4-5 true leaves are
ideal. Reducing the pungency of seeds by rubbing the seeds lightly between the
palms and then washing with water is recommended.
 It is believed that the reduction in pungency facilitates germination and also
reduces the menace of ants attacking the seeds.
Preparation of field
The soil is brought to fine tilth by repeated ploughing and harrowing. Tillage consists of
breaking up the hard, compact soil to certain depth by tillage operations like ploughing, hand
digging to bring the soil to pulverized mass known as tilth. Twenty five tonnes of FYM/ha
can be incorporated into the soil.
Spacing and transplanting
 Seedlings are transplanted 4-6 weeks after sowing.
 A closer spacing of 30X30 cm was found good in Tamil Nadu.
 In Karnataka 75 X 45 cm distance between rows and plants is being practiced to get
higher yields.
 Bell pepper plant population appears to be the most important single factor for getting
higher yields.
 A spacing of 60X30 with 55,000 plants/ha gave highest yields of 12.3t/ha in
capsicum cv. California Wonder..
Nutrition
Chilli and capsicum respond well to application of fertilizers both under irrigation and
rainfed condition.
The nutrient requirements are mentioned below.

Chilli Capsicum

Nutrients Irrigated (kg/ha) Rainfed (kg/ha) Irrigated (kg/ha)

N 175 100 150

P 75 50 75

K 75 50 50

 Good fertile soils with humus are most desirable for growing capsicum.
 Heavy application of N fertilizers may increase vegetative growth and delay
maturity.
 For rainfed crop 50% of Nitrogen and full dose of P & K applied as basal dose and
remaining 50% should be applied 4 weeks after transplanting.
 While under irrigation nitrogen should be split into three split equal doses and
applied at an interval of three weeks.
  Capsicums were found to respond to inoculation with VAM fungus Glomus spp.
Azospirillum as a seed treatment and soil application increased vegetative growth in
capsicums.
 Compared to chilli bell pepper are shy rooters so dipping the seedlings in
1.5%super phosphate solution before transplanting is advisable.
 For chilli P2O5 deficient plants leaves are small and bluish green in the beginning
later they turn dirty
 where as in K deficient plants leaves are normal green but smaller in size with
crinkled surface
Irrigation
 Since chilli is largely cultivated as a rainfed crop, the crop suffers during its various
growth phases by moisture stress due to drought spell.
 Soil moisture stress affects the plant growth and production of chillies.
 Decreased nitrogen utilization and decreased yield were observed at
lower irrigation regions. Phosphorus uptake was severely affected by soil water
stress.
 Moisture stress also resulted in severe flower drop in chilli.
 The crop raised in kharif season is mainly for ripe red chilli purpose.
 Irrigation requirement depends on season of cultivars and soil type.
 Capsicums are mostly grown during rainy and winter seasons although as it not
common to see them being cultivated during summer season.
 Even during monsoon season whenever dry spell exceeds 7-8 days providing
supplemental irrigations are necessary.
Weed control
 Weed intensity is high when the crop is grown during kharif season than in Rabi or
summer months.
 Though cultural methods of weed control is widely followed, with the increase in
labour wage and scarcity of laborers and some times increased rains preventing these
operations, using herbicides or combination of both herbicide and cultural operations
are becoming more popular.
 A large number of herbicides have been tried, both for transplanted and direct
sown chilli crop.
  Among the herbicides tried, dephenamide, trifluralin, EPTC, Nitrofen had given good
results in chilli crop.
 Various mulches such as saw dust, gravels, crop residues, plastic films etc are used to
control weed population.
Use of chemicals and growth regulators
Chilli plant growth is known to be improved by spraying of different growth regulators.
Name of the Chemical Concentration Effects
NAA (Planofix) 10ppm Increased number of
branches
NAA 10-100 ppm Increased Fruit set
Triacontanol 1 ppm Improved growth
Ethrel 300-500ppm Increased branching
CCC 500-2000 ppm Increased branching
CCC 20-200 ppm Increased Fruit set
GA 50-200 ppm Increased Branching
Protected cultivation
Capsicums can be successfully grown either for fruits or for seed production using naturally
ventilated poly cum net houses for off season cultivation in areas where temperatures do not
exceed 37-38°C.
Physiological disorders/constraints
Blossom end rot:
 A disorder of sweet pepper where water soaked spots first appears on the blossom
end of fruit.
 The spots soon become light brown and papery as the lesions dry out.
 The causes and control measures are similar to tomato. i.e. for controlling the disorder
we should follow judicious and timely irrigation and the crop should be grown in
the soil having good water holding capacity.
Sun scald:
 A disorder of sweet pepper, it occurs when the fruits are exposed to scorching
sunlight.
 This disorder arises as a soft, light coloured area in fruit that becomes slightly
wrinkled.
 Plants having enough foliage are less prone to this disorder.
Skin cracking:
 A disorder of sweet pepper where cracking occurs around the shoulder of fruits.
 It is often associated with fluctuations in temperature and humidity.
 High day temperature and average RH increases the incidence of cracking.

Flower and fruit drop:

It is one of the major constraints in chilli cultivation.
Flower and fruit drop may occur due to
(1) Low humidity and high temperature condition which result in excessive transpiration
and water deficit in the plant and cause abscission of buds, flowers and small fruits
(2) decreasing light intensity
(3) Short day and high temperature and
(4) High temperature during early flowering stages.
Control
1. Irrigation at flowering and fruit set stage helps in reducing blossom end rot and fruit drop.
2. Foliar application of 50 ppm NAA at full bloom set stage effectively controls the drop.
3. Foliar application of 20 ppm NAA at first flower opening followed by two sprays at an
interval of 30 days increases fruit set.
4. Application of Triacontanol (vipul 1ml/ 2 litre of water) also markedly reduces flowers and
fruit drop.
Elephant Foot
It is a Physiological disorder that develop in green house hydroponic sweet pepper. In this
disorder the base of the stem becomes swollen below the cotyledon level and wounds
(crack-like wounds) develop at the base of the stem epidermis.

Harvesting and yield

 The crop is harvested for either green fruits or red ripe fruits by hand picking.
 The picking of green fruits continues for about 2 months at an internal of 10-12 days
and they will be five to six pickings for green chillies and 3-4 for red ripe fruits.
 Drying of red ripe fruits for about 5-7 days in bright sun light is necessary
before marketing or storage.
 When there is a good demand for green chillies one or two picking of green fruits can
be done even of the crop is grown for red chillies.
 The yield may be about 7 to 16 tonnes per hectare of green chillies and
 12-20t/ha of non pungent sweet capsicums or bell peppers.
 In case of dry chillies the yield may be 0.5-1.0t/ha of rain fed &
 1.5-2.5t/ha in irrigated crop.
 The yield of fresh green chillies is 3-4 times higher than that of fresh red ripe
chillies and
 6 to 10 times that of dry chillies.
  Dried chillies generally contain 6% stalk, 40% pericarp and 54% seeds.
Pre and Post harvest handling
 Green chilli and Capsicum should be harvested at full maturity stage but should be
green stage.
 After harvesting fruits are heaped either indoors in shades away from direct
sunlight for 2-3 days so as to develop uniform red colour.
Storage
 Green chillies and capsicum should be sold immediately after harvesting.
 Storage and transportation at temperature ranging between 7°C and 10°C and RH 90-
95%.
 If properly cooled and stored, the shelf life can be extended by 14-21 days.
 In case of dry chillies, pods should be properly dried after removing the plant parts
and foreign matter.
 Later, they can be packed in clean, dry gunny bags and stored in cool dry places
ensuring protection from dampness.
 Dry chillies could be stored better in craft pack at 27°C and 65% RH where as for
powder, polythene bag is also effective like clear grass containers.
 It is of great importance that colour and pungency in case of chillies and colour
in the case of paprika are maximally preserved during storage.
 In trade there is preference for mechanically dried chillis with around 10% moisture
as those that are over dried suffer from loss of colour darkening.
 Those with higher level of moisture are susceptible to infection and bleaching of
colours during storage and have considerable influence on the stability of the colour
in storage.
Marketing and Export of chilli from India
 China has emerged as a principal exporter and is the main competitor in
international market. Contamination of pesticide residues and aflatoxin are
problems affecting export of Indian chillies.
 Directorate of Marketing and Inspection under the Ministry of Agriculture looks
after marketing of chillies.
 USA insists on ASTA (American Spice Trade association) cleanliness
specification.
 It is enforced by Food and Drug Administration.
  Though chilli is grown mostly in Kharif, harvesting of red ripe chilli commences in
October-November in Karnataka to Feb-March in TamilNadu & Andhra
Pradesh.
 The modes of transport to marketing centers are head loads, carts and trucks. These
are important assembling and distributing to terminal markets of chilli in India.
 Some of the important assembling centers are Byadagi and Hubli in Karnataka.
Güntoor and Warangal in AP, Madurai and Virudhanagar inTamil Nadu.The
distributing and terminal markets are Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Guntur, Calicut,
Patna, Kanpur, Nagpur, Delhi, Sholapur, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Warangal & Solan.
The present system of chilli marketing is through regulated market committee. The
agricultural produce market committees are operating market yards in all the major
markets in Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka.
Value added products
 The demand for value added chilli products like chilli powder, colour oleoresin and
pungent oleoresin has been steadily increasing.
 In food beverage industries, chilli has acquired a great importance in the form of
oleoresin which permits better distribution of colour and flavour in food as
compared to chilli powder.
 Oleoresin offers many advantages over straight spices, viz, cleanliness and uniform
flavour.
 Oleoresin is used in preparation of processed products and also in a number of
pharmaceutical formulations.
Role of Spice Board
 The spice board was set up by Govt of India under the Ministry of Commerce,
with its HQ in Cochin.
 It helps in finding market for exports, prevailing prices and market requirement in the
importing countries.
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTES PROMOTING IMPROVEMENT OF CHILLIES
 Among National institutes premier ones are Regional Research Station, Lam,
Andhra Pradesh; IIHR, Bangalore(1967), IIVR, Varanasi(1999), PAU, Ludhiana.
NBPGR, New Delhi.
 Among the well known international Institutes is the Asian Vegetables Research
and Development Centre, Taiwan (1971). Now AVRDC is known as World
Vegetable Centre which does a lot of work on peppers.