The botanical name of Chillies Is Capsicum annuum L. It belongs to family Solanaceae
Varieties: K 1, K 2, CO 1, CO 2, CO 3, CO 4 (Vegetable type), PKM 1, PMK 1 (for semi-dry conditions in Southern Districts) and PLR1 (for coastal regions of North - East Tamil Nadu).
Soil: Well drained loamy soil rich in organic matter with pH range 6.5-7.5.
Season of sowing
1) January - February
2) June - July
3) September - October
Seed rate: 1.0kg/ha.
Nursery area: 100 sq.m/ha.
Treat the seeds with Trichoderma viride @ 4 g/kg and sow in lines spaced at 10 cm in raised nursery beds and cover with sand. Watering with rose can has to be done daily. Drench the nursery with Copper oxychloride at 15 days interval against damping off disease. Apply Carbofuran 3 G at 10 g/sq.m. at sowing.
Preparation of field: Plough the land to a fine tilth. Form ridges and furrows 45 cm apart.
Transplant 40-45 days old seedlings at 30 cm spacing. Adopt 30 x 15 cm for CO 3 Chillies in flat beds.
Irrigation: Irrigate at weekly intervals.
Application of fertilizers: Apply FYM 25 t/ha. N 30 kg; P 60 kg and K 30 kg/ha as basal and 30 kg N/ha each on 30, 60 and 90 days of planting.
Potassium as K2SO4 for quality improvement. Application of potassium in the form of potassium sulphate will increase quality of chilli.
Weed control: Spray Fluchloralin 1 lit a.i/ha or pendimethalin 1 kg/a.i. or oxyflourfen 0.15 kg/a.i. as pre-emergence herbicide and may be combined with one hand weeding and earthing up 45 days after planting. Raise intercrop of onion in paired row system to get additional income.
Growth regulator: Spray NAA 10 ppm (10 mg/lit of water) on 60 and 90 days after planting to increase fruit set. Spray Triacontanol at 1.25 ppm (1.25 ml/lit) on 20, 40, 60 and 80th day of planting.
Plant protection against Pests
Fruit borer: Integrated pest management of fruit borer:
1. Set up pheromone traps for Helicoverpa armigera/Spodoptera litura at 12 No./ha.
2. Collection and destruction of damaged fruits and grown up caterpillars.
3. Spray Bacillus thuringiensis at 2 g/lit.
4. Provide poison bait with carbaryl 1.25 kg, rice bran 12.5 kg, jaggery 1.25 kg and water 7.5lit/ha.
5. Spray carbaryl 50 WP 3 g/lit or chlorpyriphos 20 EC 3 ml/lit or quinalphos 25 EC 2 ml/lit.
Thrips: Spray dimethoate 30 EC 2 ml/lit or methyl demeton 25 EC 2 ml/lit or formothion 2 ml/lit or dust quinalphos 1.5 D at 20 kg/ha thrice at fortnightly intervals.
Aphids: Acephate 75 SP 1 g/lit or methyl demeton 25 EC 2 ml/lit or phosalone 35 EC 2 ml/lit.
Yellow Muranai mite: Spray dicofol 18.5 EC 2.5 ml/lit or ethion 50 EC 4 ml/lit or wettable sulphur 50 WP 6 g/lit.
Rootknot nematode: Apply TNAU formulation of VAM (containing 1 spore/g to control rootknot nematode in nursery).
Diseases and control
Damping off: Treat the seeds with Trichoderma viride 4 g/kg or Pseudomonas fluorescens 10
g /kg of seed 24 hours before sowing. Apply Pseudomonas fluorescens as soil application @ 2.5 kg/ha mixed with 50 kg of FYM. Stagnation of water should be avoided. Drench with Copper oxychloride at 2.5 g/lit at 4 lit/sq.m
Leaf spot: Spray Mancozeb 2 g/lit or Copper oxychloride 2.5 g/lit.
Powdery mildew: Spray Wettable sulphur 3 g/lit or Carbendazim 1 g/lit, 3 sprays at 15 days interval from the first appearance of symptom.
Die-back and fruit rot: Spray Mancozeb 2 g/lit or Copper oxychloride 2.5 g/lit thrice at 15 days interval starting from noticing the die-back symptoms.
Chilli mosaic: Raise 2 rows of maize or sorghum for every 5 rows of chilli crop against wind direction. Spray recommendations given for aphids may be adopted for controlling the vector.
Yield: 2 - 3 t/ha of dry pods or 10 - 15 t/ha of green chillies.
