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Extents (ha) and Production (Mt) and Imports of chilli during 1995-2001

MI - 1	MI - 2
KA - 2	Arunalu
MI-HOT

MI - 1

Pedigree : Myliddy X Tuticorin

Origin :  ARS, Maha Illuppallama

Year of release : 1962
A tall variety with an erect growth habit which attains a height of 75 - 100 cm, depending on the soil type. It is more suitable for cultivation during the maha season in rainfed uplands, but it is susceptible to leaf curl complex (LCC) and anthracnose, and therefore, gives comparatively low yields of about 1000 - 2000 kg ha-1 of dry chillies. The pods have a moderate pungency and are green becoming red coloured when ripe. The fruit surface is weakly wrinkled; the calyx is enveloping and the fruit ends are acute and strongly tapered.

General characteristics

MI - 2

MI - 2 has short plant stature with a compact, dense canopy having the appearance of a pruned tea bush. The thin pericarp of the fruits facilitates drying and the pungency of the fruits is higher than that of MI -1. This variety does well in all chillie growing areas and can be successfully grown in both the yala and maha seasons. Flowering starts 75 - 80 days after sowing and the first harvest can be taken in 110 - 115 days after sowing. From a well managed crop, 6 - 7 picks can be harvested at 7 - 10 day intervals up to 155 - 170 days after sowing. With supplementary irrigation, the average yield in yala is about 2500 - 3000 kg ha-1 and in maha about 1500 - 2000 kg ha-1 . The variety also has a moderate level of resistance to the leaf curl complex disease. The pods are dark green in colour, and have weakly wrinkled surface, and slightly enveloping calyxes. The pods have tapering ends and acute apices. The ripe pods are red in colour.

General characteristics

Nursery Management
To get good results, the cultivation should be started with healthy vigorous plants. It needs proper nursery management practices. Well drained and fine soil with sufficient sunlight are essential factors for nursery preparation. About 25-30 nursery beds of 1mx3m size are required to get chilli seedlings for one hectare of cultivation. Sterilization of nursery beds should be done before sowing the seeds.

Sterilization can be done ;
1. By Burning
2. By Solarization
3. By Using Chemicals

Following practices should be done to get healthy seedlings

• Place the seeds after sterilization of soil- in rows
• Seed treatment is essential to prevent diseases - 80% captan can be use
• Sow the seeds in rows - spacing 10- 15 cm between rows at the depth of 1cm
• Put mulch on seed bed
• Daily watering - Germination of seeds take about 7-10 days
• Remove and place the mulch in between rows after seedlings appeared.
• Put fungicides if the seedlings affected by fungal diseases like, Wilt, foot rot and damping off
• Weeding - Hand weeding
• Hardening the seedlings - Limit water supply 7-10 days before planting
• 35 days old seedlings suitable for planting

Field Establishment

Climate and Soil Requirement
Deep, loamy, fertile soils rich in organic matter are preferred by the crop for satisfactory growth. Also need well drained soils with adequate soil moisture for the growth of the crop. Chilli grows well in the dry and the intermediate part o the country.

Land Preparation
Deep ploughing up to 45cm and rotavating is essential to get good soil tilth. Raised beds, Ridge & Furrows or sunken beds can be use for transplanting of chilli seedlings. Two rows beds or ridges are preferred when cultivating under irrigation. Drainage factor is essential when cultivating chilli especially in wet season and also cultivate in paddy fields.

Time of Planting
In Sri Lanka 2 seasons
Dry season -Mid March to August North east monsoon - receive low rainfall - need irrigation.
Cultivation start mid April

Wet Season -Mid September to February - South west monsoon - fare amount of rainfall -Rainfed cultivation and supplementary irrigation cultivation.
Cultivation start with on set o f the rain - Rainfed early September , November -December with supplementary
Irrigation

Planting
Two plants can be plant in one hill
Spacing 45cm X 30cm - Under rainfed (74,000 plants/ha)
60cm X 45cm - Under Irrigation(37,000 plants/ha)

Crop Management

Fertilizer Application

1. Damping off (By Phythium spp, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium solani and
2. Macrophomina phaseolina)
3. Anthracnose (Colletotricum capsici)
4. Leaf spots (Cerospora capsici)
5. Powdery mildew (Oidiopsis taurica)
6. Foot rot (Sclerotium rollftsii)
7. Bacterial wilt
8. Chilli leaf mosaic virus

Harvesting & Post-harvest Technology

Harvesting
Well matured green pods can be harvested as green chilli. For the preparation of dry chilli, the chilli pods should be in fully red condition or more than 80% red stage.Under well manage situation 10-12 picks can be harvested as green chilli or 7-9 picks as red chilli stage. Harvested red mature pods should be kept under room temperature for two days for the development of red colour of partially red pods before expose to sunlight for drying. Laying material ex: tarpoling , mats or gunny bags should be used to dry the pods under sunlight. Good quality dry chilli can be produced 5-6 days after drying under sunlight