Chili crop production and marketing in Pakistan | Chili market Kunri, Sindh, Pakistan

Chili (Capsicum annuum L.) is a tropical crop belonging to Solanaceae family. It is used in food for pungency and red colour. Chili is one of the largest traded spices in the national and international markets. Pakistan is among the biggest producers of chili crop after India, China and Mexico. Chili is an important cash crop of Pakistan in general and Sindh province particularly. The main market for chilies is Kunri, which is located in Umar Kot District. Production of red chili in the province (Sindh) is approximately 80,000 ton per annum, which accounts for around 86 per cent of the total red chili production in Pakistan. In the world, 26 wild species of chili peppers/capsicum are known. Out of them five species are domesticated, which are known as C. annuum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, C. baccatum, and C. pubescens. Capsicum annuum L. and Capsicum frutescens L. are grown among them in Pakistan. It is eaten cooked and in processed form as salad in the world. In Pakistan, it is used in almost every dish in the kitchen.

Chili is a warm season crop, which grows well in areas where the average temperature is 30 degree centigrade for at least four to five months of the year. The optimal temperature is between 24 degree centigrade and 32 degree centigrade. At lower temperature growth becomes progressively poor and despite being a warm season crop, at temperatures above 35 degree centigrade coupled with dry winds, excessive flower drop many become problem. According to the fruits, vegetables and condiments statistics of Pakistan 2020-21, the area and production of chili crop in Pakistan was 46826 ha and 105366 ton respectively with provincial break-up below in the fig:

History shows that chili is known from pre-historic times in Peru and believed to have originated in the tropical America. It is also said that chili has originated in the Latin American regions of the New Mexico and Guatemala as a wild crop around 7500 BC, as per the remains of the pre-historic Peru. Columbus carried chili seeds to Spain in 1493. The cultivation of chili spread rapidly from Spain to Europe. The Portuguese brought capsicum from Brazil to India during the year 1584. Chili became popular in the whole of Asia rapidly and native Asians started cultivating this crop as well. The south Asian climate suited this crop, and since its introduction in 16th century chili has been increasingly cultivated in south Asia (Sanusi and Ayinde, 2013. Inc: Khan Attaullah., Ali, Mubarik, and Yasin Aqsa, (2020) Chili Cluster Feasibility and Transformation Study). Experts believe that some Capsicum species likely originated in Mexico, but the general consensus is that the place of origin for the original ancestors is the Amazon Basin in South America, which is mostly located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. This region is mostly covered with dense tropical forests and is home to many wild Capsicum species. From there, chili spread to other parts of the world and became established in other parts of the Americas long ago (https://www.spicemad.com/p/the-history-of-Chili-peppers.html). In Pakistan Chili is the cheapest source used as spice in almost all sorts of dishes that are prepared in the Kitchens all over the country. Besides the spiciness, the chili has good nutritional and medicinal value.

Chili is a rich source of vitamins and minerals. The spice has innumerable uses for commercial, nutritional as well as medicinal purposes. It is used for preparation of oleoresin that has great export potential and demand in the world market. The medicinal properties of chili help to combat various diseases like cancer, heart attack and lung diseases. Chilies are valued for their soothing effects on digestive system, relief from symptoms of cold, sore throats and fever. Chilies (capsaicin) are also used to alleviate pain. It is the most recommended medication for arthritis (Ziaf K., Iqbal Q. and Amjad M., Agri. Overview: Jan 02.2015. Pakissan.com).The nutritional value of chili (excluding seeds) is given in the table below:

S.NO	Items	Value
1	Water	90 ml
2	Protein	2 g
3	Fat	0.5 g
4	Carbohydrate	6 g
5	Fiber	1 g
6	Calcium	20 mg
7	Iron	1 mg
8	Vitamin A potency	Variable (100-1200 IU)
9	Thiamine	0.06 mg
10	Riboflavin	0.08 mg
11	Nicotinamide	1 mg
12	Ascorbic Acid	150 mg

Source: Tindall, H.D. (1979).Commercial vegetable growing, Oxford tropical handbooks.

However, the crop cultivation is not as easy as this entails many problems, which needs utmost care and management right from nursery production till harvesting.

Chili nursery raising in the country starts from the month of February and goes continued till the end of April and onward in various climatic regions, which is transplanted in the field after one month and in some places after one and a half month having 5-6 leaves. The use of seed rate also varies from region to region. In Punjab and KP provinces 500 grams seed is used per ha.

In Sindh, which is the major producing province in Pakistan, 1.250-1.750 kg seed is planted for raising nursery for planting a hectare of land.  Another method for transplantation is also used where 2-3 seeds are planted in a hole on ridges that is locally called Chopa.  In Sindh, the nursery raising of chili starts from December and ends in the month of August while the transplantation takes place after one month in the sequence.   

In Baluchistan, nursery is raised under plastic in December to January and   transplanted in the month of March- April while in some places; Nasirabad and adjacent areas; nursery is raised in the month of August and transplanted in September. For nursery raising 500 grams of seed is raised to plant one hectare of land. Besides nursery raising, direct seeding is also done in the field where 3-4 seeds are sown in a hole.  However, 750-875 grams seed is planted in a hectare. This method is locally called Chondi.

Seed for nursery is planted on raised beds. Clods, stones and other unnecessary materials are removed from soil and well dried farm yard manure is mixed with soil during preparation. Seed is planted in lines with a distance of 3-4 cm on 1 meter wide and 3 meters long beds. One hundred and fifty gram seed is planted on each bed to raise nursery. The lines are then covered with a thin layer of well rotten and dried farm yard manure or fine sand. Afterwards, the seed bed is covered with rice or wheat straw in hot areas like Sindh. The beds are irrigated with sprinkle twice in a day; morning and evening. The nursery should be kept clean from weeds. In case of disease attack spray of fungicides should be done. Chili nursery raising, transplantation and harvesting times vary from region to region, which is presented in the table below:

Province	Nursery raising	Transplantation
Punjab
Pothwar	Feb-March	March-April
Central Punjab	Feb	March
Southern Punjab	January 15-February
Sindh
Entire Sindh	December-January	March-April
Umarkot, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Badin, Khairpur, Ghotki, Kotri, Shikarpur,  Haiderabad and Karachi	Feb-March	March-April
Tando Muhammad Khan, Matli and Badin	July-August	August-September
KP
Merged Districts	March-April	April-May
Malakand Division/Region	March-April	April-May
	June-July	July-August
	December-January	January-February
Hazara Division/Region	March-April	April-May
Peshawar Region	February-March	March-April
Southern Region (Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan)	February-March	March-April
Balochistan
Upper Region	December (under plastic	Februay-March
Quetta region	January (under plastic)	March-April
Lower Region	August	September

Note: The approximate time of chili nursery raising and transplantation are given as baseline. The farmers may adjust the times of nursery raising and transplantation according to their local climatic conditions.

Fertile and well drained land is required for nursery production as well as crop growing; otherwise serious technical and nutritional problems may arise during the cropping period.

Chili crop can be grown on almost all types of soils with a pH range of 5.5 to 7.5. However, the idle soil is sandy loam, which is preferred for early crop. Higher yields can be obtained from well-drained loamy, clay-loam, silt loam soils containing adequate organic matter. Poorly drained heavy soils are not suitable for chili cultivation. Ploughing must be avoided when the soil is too wet, otherwise large clods will be formed in heavier soil. Plough the soil when it is in proper moisture conditions. The land should be ploughed 3-4 times. Ploughing should follow the planking. At the time of planting, the soil should be firm. Chili nursery is transplanted on ridges and the seedlings are planted in the middle of ridge.  Chili nursery transplantation is advisable in standing water in the afternoon. For Chilies production, row to row and plant to plant distances are kept as 70 and 30 cm respectively. Fertilizer NPK is applied @ of 150:120:60 Kg/ha. Nitrogen is applied in two split doses. Half of nitrogen is mixed with full dose of Phosphorous and Potash and applied before transplantation while the rest of nitrogen is applied with earthing up, which is done after 2-3 weeks of transplantation. At this stage weeding and hoeing is done. The soil is left for a day or two openly under the sun to dry-up. The remaining nitrogen is applied to the field and earthing-up is done. Irrigation is done after 2-3 days of earthing up.

Irrigation of chili crop is essential for achieving normal plant growth and good health. For irrigation availability of water is important at it is not possible to grow them without irrigation. The chili crop may need irrigation as often as every 6-7 days in plains and in hills every 7-10 days.

Weeds compete with chili plants in nutrition and water uptake. In a weed-free field, harvesting is much easier. Early 2-3 hoeing can give effective control of weeds, which is an important factor in reducing chili yields. All weeds must be eradicated before they become well established. Early hoeing should be fairly deep and close to the plant but the latter ones should be shallow and away from plants to avoid injury to plants roots. Weeds also play the role as harbor for insects and diseases, thus necessitating its eradication.

The major insects those attack chili crop are aphids, white fly, tomato fruit worm, cut worms and root knot nematodes. The crop should be checked after every 7-8 days carefully, if the signs of insect infestation are found such as damaged leaves and injured fruits. The crop should be sprayed at regular intervals of 7-10 days. The attack of white flies and aphids can be controlled by spraying Confidor or, Immidachloprid @ 1.5-2 ml/litre of water.  Cut worm and fruit worm can be controlled with the application of Match 1.5 ml, Tracer and Steward 2-2.5 ml and Emamectin Benzuate 2.5-3 ml/litre of water.

Bacterial Spot, Damping-Off, Powdery Mildew, Early Blight, Late Blight, Fusarium Wilt and Viruses (Leaf Curl, Lear Roll, TMV) are major diseases of chili crop, which reduce yields considerably. It is necessary to adhere to a strict spray programme to keep the diseases under control in order to get higher production. Applications must be repeated at 7-10 days intervals. For the control of Early and Late Blights, the crop should be sprayed with any of the available fungicides like ‘Dithane-M45/Ridomil Gold/Curzate/Acrobate M-Z/Entracol at the rate of 2.5-3 gm/litre of water. Fusarium Wilt is a soil born fungal disease. There is no effective chemical control method for this disease. Therefore, long crop rotation (4-5 years) with cereals, is recommended. For virus control, virus vector like aphids and white fly is necessary to control at early stage. If diseases are controlled in chili crop, a good harvest is expected to obtain.

Harvesting of chili crop is done in successions, which varies from region to region. Harvesting in Punjab starts from May and ends in July while in KP it starts from June and goes up to mid-September in most parts of KP. Harvesting in Balochistan is also done in August and September. In Sindh, the first round of harvesting starts in June and Chili arrives in Kunri market from 1 August to 15^th  September while its second arrival starts from September 16 to 30^th November with larger quantities. Harvesting is done manually by hands, which is a labourer intensive process and contributes significantly to the cost of production. Harvesting period always spread over two to three months. The red chilies are dried under the sun light, which are spread over geotextile sheets while some farmers dry the produce on ground, which affects the quality of chili by adding to aflatoxin, that is mainly caused by drying chilies on ground, thus reducing the chance to get high premium in market during sale.

Marketing of chili almost takes place through commission agents, traders and other middlemen interacting with farmers in villages. Small producers of chili sell their fresh produce to local traders in village and they also buy standing crop. The traders collect and send the produce in wholesale fruits and vegetable market and sell it through commission agents. The crop is grown on contract basis also.

The dried red chili produce is sold in local markets through commission agents. Kunri tehsil, district of Umar Kot, Sindh is the largest market for dried chili in Asia and subsequently, main market for dried chili in Pakistan.  The commission agents provide loans to growers who are bound to sell their produce through them and they often charge higher commission. Since commission agents’ profit depends on the volume of transaction. They also get increased margins by mixing different grades of chilies and keeping the moisture content high. This has serious implications for the level of aflatoxin and overall quality of chili that reaches the consumers. At the time of chili harvesting and sun drying period (Sep to Dec) environmental temperature ranging from 30-40 C does not favour prompt drying of the produce. It takes 8-10 days to completely dry/dehydrate the chilies. During this prolonged drying time, fungus starts developing inside the chili producing aflatoxins which are linked to serious health issues including cancer. During open sun drying, the chilies are exposed to dust/dirt and various other contaminants which deteriorate the quality of the valuable exportable horticulture produce.