1. After completing this lesson, you have learned to answer:
Why chili pepper cultivation is important?
Can chili pepper crop yield comparable to other fruits vegetable?
Why chili pepper yields are low where this crop is important?
Why area under chili pepper is declining?
Is there a scope for chili pepper farmers to increase their income and how?

2. Chili Acreage, Yield, Production, & Value by Variety
2005
Variety
Acreage
Harvested
Yield Per Acre (Tons)
Production
(Tons)
Average Price Per Ton (Dollars)
Value of Production
($1000)
Green
Jalapeño
Long Mild
Long Hot
Red
Paprika
Cayenne
700
3,300
900
6,600
4,700
800
10.6
14.4
10.5
1.5
8.6
1.2
1.0
7,400
47,500
9,450
10,060
7,750
5,800
362
309
384
1,385
408
1,429
1,763
2,680
14,690
3,630
13,930
3,160
8,290
1,410
Total
16200
5.5
88,760
538
47,790
Sources: 2005 New Mexico Agricultural Statistics

3. Chili pepper is the fruit of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the family, Solanaceae.
Botanically speaking, the fruit of capsicums are berries, the peppers are considered vegetables (e.g. bell peppers) or spices (e.g. cayenne pepper) for culinary purposes.
Chili peppers originated in the Americas. After the Columbian Exchange, many cultivars of chili pepper spread across the world, used in both food and medicine.
Chili pepper is one of the first cultivated crops in the Americas that is self-pollinating.

4. Chili is sold fresh, dried and powdered
Chili is sold fresh, dried and powdered. In the United States, dried ground chili peppers, cumin, garlic and oregano is often known as chili powder.
Chili peppers are used around the world to make a countless variety of sauces, known as hot sauce, chile sauce, or pepper sauce.
Indian cooking uses chilis in everything from snacks such as bhaji, where the chilis are dipped in batter and fried, to complex curries.
Chilies are also common in the cuisines of Bangladesh and Pakistan. Bogura Chili, grown in the Jessore district, are very hot. Green chilies are used in vegetable and fish dishes, as well as raw compliments to a salad or meal.

5. Medicinal uses: Capsaicin is a safe and effective analgesic agent in the management of arthritis pain, herpes zoster-related pain, diabetic neuropathy, postmastectomy pain, and headaches.
Crop defense: Farmers in Africa and on sub continent have found the use of chilis as a crop defense against elephants. The chili are spread on fences and other structures to keep the elephants away.
Food defense: As birds have a lessened sensitivity to the effects of chili it can be used to keep mammalian vermin from bird seed