*Introduction * World scenario *Indian scenario *Export Chillies *World Market * Area *Production *Exports
Introduction
India is the largest producer of chillies in the world contributing 25% of the total world production. Chillies is also known as Capsicum, Red Pepper, Paprika depending upon the species and variety and also the manner in which it is prepared and used. Chilli is used as an essential condiment in foods for its pungency and red colour. Besides these properties chilli is a rich source of Vitamin A,C,E and P and has certain medicinal properties. It is used in homeopathy. A non-conventional use of chilli is in the self-defence sprays which is gaining popularity in USA. The spray consists of capsicum oleoresin at ultra high emission rate which temporarily immobilizes the attacker.
World scenario
Till recently, international trade in chillies was dominated by India. However, during the last few years, thee has been a change in the situation. The export from the country has come down considerably. Further, the export is not steady and is subject to wide fluctuations. The total export of chillies from India is on an average only 4% of total production. This is mainly because of the high domestic consumption.
India is exporting chillies to a large number of coutries spread all over the world. In the Past, Sri Lanka was the principal importer of chillies in the world and India accounted for the major portion of chillies imported by that country. Proximity and old links were the main reasons for dominance of Indian Chillies in Sri Lanka.
China has emerged as a principal exporter of chillies and is serious competitor in international market. China has success fully penetrated the large Malaysian Market, mainly at the expense of Indonesia. The United States of America has also been purchasing larger quantities of chillies from China. Japan is producing special type of chillies like Bird's Eye, Santaka and Hontaka types of chillies. These chillies have a market, but export from Japan is decreasing mainly on accout of local demand, which has not been matched by local production. Japan is increasingly becoming importer of chillies and capsicum. Another significant producer and exporter of the Bird's eye chillies is Papua New Guinea, although it is not one of the important sources of capsicum products. Ugandan chillies, known as "Mombasa", exported through the port of Mombasam, are the most pungent of all and well established in the international trade for their pungency.
The bulk of imports of paprika chillies in western countries is consumed in the food processing industry, where it is used as a colourant and for flavouring. In countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden, considerable quantities of these spices are used in the manufacture of oleoresins and extracts.
Indian scenario
Chillies exports from India are mostly to Sri Lanka, USA, Nepal, Mexico and Bangladesh. Among these countries, USA, Sri Lanka and Mexico are the major buyers for Indian Chillies. India today faces stiff competition form China and Pakistan who offer their produce in International market at very competitive price. Export of chillies during 1990 - 91 was around 24,534 tonnes valued at Rs. 27.55 crores and in 1991- 92 it shot up to 33,398 tonnes valued at Rs. 97.90 crores. During 1992 - 93 India exported around 16,850 tonnes valued around Rs. 67.86 crores and in 1993 - 94 the exports were 33,450 tonnes valued Rs. 75.26 crores from an export of 26,279 tonnes. The reason for low export is that the prices of our chillies are too high for international markets on account of strong domestic demand. Sannam variety of Chillies is in demand in the importing countries of Europe and United States of America.
Export of Chillies
Chillies or capsicum is grown as an important spice crop in Andhra Pradesh, maharashtra, Maharashtra, Karnataka,Tamilnadu and Orissa, spread over about nine lakh hectres of land. India produces about six to nine lakh tonnes of dried chillies annually. Chillies form an indispensable condiment in every household. Besides imparting pungency and red colour to the dishes it is a rich source of vitamins and has medicinal properties. (The pungency of chillies is due to the presence of carotenoid and the red color due to carotenoid pigments .Such as Capasanthin and capsorubin) As the demand for natural pigments is growing the demand for chillies in world market is bound to increase steadily. However, the internal consumption of chillies is also increasing day by the resulting in reduced exportable surplus.
This situation could be improved by increasing production and improving productivity. Cultivation of high yielding variants and also those with high content of capsanthin and/or pungent principle depending upon the endues in the importing countries should form part of the strategy to increase exports.
The quantum of chillies exported from India exported from India shows wide fluctuation. In 1991-92 export went up to 32603 metric tonnes while during 1992-93 year the quantity was 17038 metric tonnes. In 1993-94 it went up again to 28619 tonnes.
Varieties of Chillies
 |  |  |  |  |
Bird's Eye Chilly Blood red in colour, highly pungent ASTA colour value - 41.7. | Ellachipur - Sannam - S4Type Reddish in colour and very hot | Guntur Sannam - S4 TYPE ASTA colour value - 32.11
| Kanthari - White Short and ivory white in colour with high pungency
| Tomato Chilly Deep red and less pungent ASTA colour value - 125.26
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Kashmir Chilli Long, fleshy, deep red in colour
| Jwala Highly pungent, light red in colour, short and the seeds are compact Capsaicin - 0.4 %
| Byadagi ( Kaddi ) Red in colour with less pungency or without pungency ASTA colour value - 159.9
| Ramnad Mundu Yellowish red in colour ASTA colour value - 32.95
| Hindpur - S7 |
The World Market for Chillies
Chillies of red pepper belongs to the genus capsicum which is a native of Tropical America. It was introduced into India by the Portuguese during the 16th century. India has emerged today as the foremost producer and exporter of chillies contributing to almost one fourth of the world production. Besides India, other major producers and exporters of chillies are China, Pakistan, Morocco, Mexico and Turkey.
Export of Chillies from India during the last four years has been showing an encouraging trend though fluctuation occur very often. Indian chillies are exported mainly to Srilanka, USA, Canada, UK, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia and Germany. It is exported in different forms: fresh chillies, stalk less chillies, green chillies, chilli powder and also as oleoresin.
Aflatoxin and pesticide residues are the two important problems which act as constraints in increasing our exports to Europe, Japan and USA. Buyers expect a high degree of hygiene and sanitation in processing and preparing chillies for export.
The potential for increasing exports of whole chillies, chilli powder and crushed chillies in consumer packs is very high, provided we meet the stringent quality requirements of importing countries. The consumers in importing countries insist on ‘clean spices’ and to meet this challenge we have to make every effort to prevent contamination from external sources during harvesting, post harvest handling, processing and storage. This can be achieved only through an integrated approach with the collective efforts of farmers, processors and traders. Improved quality and productivity of Indian chillies will enable us to increase exports us to increase exports of chillies and chilli products from India effectively meeting the competition from other producing and exporting countries.
Country wise Percentage of worldwide chillies exports (capsicum)
*India 25% *China 24% *Spain 17% *Mexico 8% * Pakistan 7.2% *Morocco 7% * Turkey 4.5% *others ^
Percentage of area in statewise as per report of 1996-97
| Andhra Pradesh | 38% |
| Gujarat | 2.8% |
| Karnataka | 12.8% |
| Madya Pradesh | 2.3% |
| Maharastra | 7.8% |
| Orissa | 9.4% |
| Rajastan | 6% |
| Tamil nadu | 6% |
| Utter Pradesh | 2.2% |
| WestBengal | 5.3% |
| Others | 7.4% |
| Year | Yield Area(hect) | Production(mt) | Yield(Ha/kg) | Exports(mt) | Value(CR) |
| 1994-95 | 8,29,200 | 7,94,700 | 958/kg | 20,096 | 57.1163 |
| 1995-96 | 8,83,700 | 8,09,700 | 916/kg | 56,165 | 195.4617 |
| 1996-97 | 9,56,500 | 9,45,500 | 988/kg | 50,051 | 201.4515 |
| 1997-98 | --- | -- | -- | 51,779 | 158.9002 |
| 1998-99 | -- | --- | -- | 68.019 | 252.8726 |
| 1999-00(P) | -- | -- | -- | 64,776 | 250.6589 |
| 2000-01(E) | -- | -- | ----- | 61,000 | 195.2350 |
Source:- Ministry of Agriculture & DGCI & S export returns*P-projected*E-estimated
What is adultered food?The word ‘adulterated’ has a different connotation in the developed countries. Items of food affected by pest, microbes or fungi become impure and unfit for human consumption. The presence of foreign matter, moisture content above permissible levels, residues of pesticides, presence of other chemical etc. also make food unfit for human consumption. Importing countries like USA and Japan detain imported foods when they have evidence that these were produced and processed under unhygienic conditions, and subject to further action depending on the degree of contamination.
ASTA CLEANLINESS SPECIFICATIONS
Name of spices | Whole insect dead by count | Excreta mammalian By mg/Ib | Excreta other by mb/Ib | Mold % by wt. | Insect defiled/ infested % by wt. | Extraneous foreign matter % by wt. |
Chillies (whole) | 4 | 1 | 8.0 | 3.00 | 2.50 | 0.50 |
In addition to ASTA cleanliness specifications, spices imported to USA should comply with the Defect Action Levels (DAL) of FDA. At present FDA Defect Action levels for Chillies comprise:
| Defect | Action level |
Chillies (Capsicum) (Pods) | Insect filth and / mold | Average of more than % of pods by weight are insect infested and/or moldy. |
Chillies (Ground) | Mold | Average mold count is more than 20% |
| Insect filth | Average of more than 50 insect fragments per 25 gms. |
| Rodent filth | Average of more than 6 hairs per 25 gms. |
Besides this, FDA also administers Surveillance programmes to monitor for pesticide residues in spices, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prescribes tolerance levels for pesticide residues and the FDA enforces them through compliance programmers. EEC Countries constitute a major market for INdian Spices. Most EEC Countries Netherlands have specifications for various quality parameters of spices. Germany has prescribed tolerance levels for pesticide residues. The German specifications are supposed to be the most stringent. The Dutch law also prescribes maximum residues for pesticides in spices. The food industry and spice processors in U.K. follow the limit for pesticides prescribed in the German specifications in the absence of U.K. specification.
Most EEC countries have prescribed tolerance levels for Aflatoxin. German specification for Aflatoxin B1 and B1+B2+G1+G2 are 2 ppb and 4 ppb respectively. Other European countries have prescribed the limits for Aflatoxin B1 which vary from 1 ppb to 10ppb.
In all EEC countries specifications for Salmonella in spices is absence in 25 gms. The food processing industry and spice grinders specify microbial load for each spice blend depending upon the end use.
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