Intro: It makes your eyes water, nose run and tongue burn the moment you bite into it, but lends an inimitable flavour to every dish including curries and chutneys. Yes, we are talking about green chilli, one of the most important ingredients of every authentic Indian dish.
Article: Almost every Indian loves to have green chillies with his daily three-square meals, as does almost every other person in the world. One may consume it as a side dish with an elaborate menu, or even with a simple chapati, pickle, or onion if one cannot afford anything more than that.
It is one vegetable, besides the onion, that is normally found in the kitchens of the moneyed and indigent folks alike. The common habit of every Indian housewife of asking the vendor for green chillies along with coriander leaves while shopping for vegetables testifies to the fact.
In consonance with humans’ love for green chillies, nature has provided for their round-the-year cultivation as rabi and kharif crops. India enjoys the distinction of being one of the biggest exporters of chilli in the world.
Yet, all is not as rosy as it seems as green chilli cultivation has its own set of challenges including surplus or shortage of rains and pest attacks. The resurgence of COVID-19, besides excess rainfall, had resulted in a drop in the yield, supply, and export of chilli besides inflating its prices by almost 30 percent in May this year.
THREATS TO CHILLI CROP:
Apart from this, pest attacks particularly the onslaught of thrips, spiders, mites, and viruses, pose a major challenge to India’s chilli farming industry. A recent attack of thrips was reported to have wiped out acres upon acres of chilli farms in not one but six of the leading chilli-producing states of the country.
However, with GROWiT’s state-of-the-art technology, evident in its scientifically produced organic mulch films, and crop covers, chilli farmers can consider themselves well-sorted for the task of chilli production.
(I) MULCHING: Agronomists recommend mulching the ground prepared for chilli cultivation with silver polythene sheets. If experts are to be believed, mulching that reflects light interferes with thrips’ ability to locate their target, which in this case, happens to be the chilli crop. GROWiT India has an entire range of plastic mulching (silver/black, white/black, black/black, red/black) to afford suitable solutions against thrips attacks on India’s chilli farmers.
HOW TO USE GROWIT MULCH FOR CHILLI FARMING:
The mulching sheet to be used for chilli cultivation is laid after the land has been prepared properly for the task by tilling it twice or thrice and crushing the clod after every ploughing session, and adding fertilizers and pesticides, as per the recommendation of an agricultural expert.
Farmers, who often face the challenge of thrips, should select the right mulching sheet for the purpose in consultation with an expert agronomist. Besides helping conserve soil vitality by reducing evaporation of moisture and preventing erosion of nutrients, the right mulching sheet (in this case, one with the ability to reflect light) shields the growing chilli crop from thrips.
Chilli seeds are sown through the holes in this mulching sheet, which can either be pre-holed or without holes (the holes can later be made in this one as per the cultivation needs of the farmer). Chilli farmers could also opt for drip irrigation of their chilli crop along with mulching as this can help them enhance their crop yield significantly. But it is always advisable to consult an expert in the field if one hasn’t already tried this before.
(II) CROP COVERS: GROWiT’s crop cover is a meshy, tunnel-like structure that covers your chilli crop from top to bottom to protect it against the elements and pests. It helps revitalize the damaged soil, keeps insects, and pests at bay, and prevents plants from sustaining sunburn, and other injuries and ravages as well.
GROWiT’s crop covers are made of UV-treated, non-woven fabric. They help facilitate early-seeding and fruit-sprouting by creating a greenhouse effect, besides allowing off-season production of food, preventing the development of fungal spots on crops and their fruits. These are highly cost-effective, besides being environmentally viable and easy to use.
We could go on and on about the efficacy of our products in ensuring a healthy and bounteous yield of your chilli crop. However, we leave it to you to explore and decide, which of our products you would like to use as a chilli farmer to ensure that not only you yourself, but also many others in the country and around the world get to savour the curries, sauces, and other dishes, bearing the flavour of your wisdom and hard work.
CALL TO ACTION: For more information and guidance on our mulches, insect net and crop cover, install GROWiT app or visit us at https://www.thegrowit.com/. We’d be happy to assist you.
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