Factors affecting chilli production Climate: Chilli requires a warm and humid climate and dry weather during

g the maturation of fruits. It can be grown throughout the year under irrigation. It can be grown successfully as a rain-fed crop in areas receiving an annual rainfall of 850-1200 mm. Temperature ranging from 20-25C is ideal for chilli. In chilli fruit development was found to be adversely affected at temperatures of 37C or more. Soil: Chilli can be grown in a range of soils, but black soils which retain moisture for long periods are suitable for rainfed crop whereas well drained soils, deltaic soils and sandy loams are good under irrigated condition. Replenishing the lost nutrients in sustainable way Crop rotation. Practice of intercropping. Less usage of chemicals fertilizers by planting leguminous crops such as peanuts, soybean, alfa-alfa. Use of Vermicompost or Compost made up of farm waste. Another alternative is that as Parthenium generally grows wildly so we can use it by Bioconversion of Parthenium Hysterophorus as organic manure for chilli. Land Preparation in sustainable way: Land is prepared to a fine tilth by thorough ploughing / digging. We can also use tillage alternatives like minimum tillage practice, stubble mulch tillage, Row Tillage. The soil can be treated with azatobacter or azospirillum with farm yard manure and the same may be broadcast in the field. Farm Yard manure and vermicompost can be added. Prototypes of these farming concepts are implemented in IIT KGP Water: Water mostly used by crops in Evapo-Transpiration (ET) and metabolic activities. Most of the water is wasted in terms of deep percolation Flowering and fruit development in chilli are the most critical stages for water requirement Total Water requirement : 900 mm (Dry chilli) 1050 mm (green chilli) Excessive irrigation or low irrigation has adverse effects on chilli
Reduction in flowering and yield. Incidence of fungal diseases Reduction in capture of nutrients Flower and fruit drop Less branching

To minimize the water losses

We can use sub surface irrigation or sprinkler as an alternative methods of irrigation rather than surface irrigation. (using for chilli in IITKGP) Use of Biochar, it reduces water requirement as it holds it, reduce soil emissions of GWGs,

reduce leaching of nutrients, reduce soil acidity, and reduce irrigation and fertilizer requirements. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar
Watering only in critical stages.

Seeds: we can use seeds which are hybrid and Drought and pest resistant. Such as The Rodriguan chilli, Ti Piment Rodrigues is famous for its pungency and taste. It has a very high market value on both local and export market. Naga Viper, Bhut julokia are the one
of the hottest chilli in the world having a very scoville units. In India we mostly use Pusa Sadabahar, Pusa Jwala and Pant C-1. Developing BT crops. Pest attack: Thrips, Fruit Borers, moths, mites, aphids, root grubs and pod borers are the

major pests in chilli.

Controlling by Biological methods

Application of neem cakes, Beauvaria bassiana, neem seed kernel extract (NSKE), Release of larvae of Chrysoperla cornea, a bio control agent, Pheromone traps for moths, Nuclear

Polyhedrosis Virus (NPV) for pod borers, Fruit rot & Die back caused by Colletotrichum capsici and bacterial wilt are the two major diseases of chilli. For effective disease control, Trichoderma or Pseduomonas sp. should be used for spraying.
Diseases:

Human Resources: It is available in plenty, but availability of skilled labour is less as many of the farmers still use traditional methods of planting. Main problem with farmers is that, they dont easily use the above methods until unless it is practiced by others, as they are not accustomed to new practice. To ensure that they practice above methods is to target some group of farmers and then helping them in using sustainable practice by providing full technical and financial aid, thus improving the quality of life of farmers and also the quality of produce. In this way we can promote the above methods to achieve chilies below MRLs.

These are the some of the methods which we can ensure in order to grow crops in sustainable way