Chilies: Introduction

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L) of family Solanaceae is both a vegetable and a spice crop of significant economic value in Pakistan. It is mainly used for flavouring and imparting the pungency to cooked vegetables and meal. It is a rich source of vitamin A and C. The area, production and average yield of chilies in Pakistan are given in table-I.  

Introduction

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L) of family Solanaceae is both a vegetable and a spice crop of significant economic value in Pakistan. It is mainly used for flavouring and imparting the pungency to cooked vegetables and meal. It is a rich source of vitamin A and C. The area, production and average yield of chilies in Pakistan are given in table-I.

Trends, area, production and yield

There has been a progressive decrease in area and production of chili in Pakistan. Since 1999-00 to 2004-05, the area under chili crop has decreased from 86.8 to 48.7 thousand hectares and production from 115.5 to 90.5 thousand tonnes. However, the average yield has increased from 1.3 to 1.9 tones /ha. The data since 1999-00 are as follows. 

Table 1. Area, production and yield of chilies in Pakistan (1999-00 to 2004-05) 

Table 1. Area, production and yield of chilies in Pakistan (1999-00 to 2004-05)
The average shares of the provinces in the over all area and production of chilli, based on the data of 2004-05, are given in the following table.

Table 2. Shares of provinces in area and production of chilies (2004-05)

The present national average yield of chilies is 1.9 tonnes/ha which is quite low. To obtain a potential yield, high yielding varieties and improved production technology have to be adopted.

Growing Seasons
Province wise nursery sowing and transplanting times of chilies are given