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. Chillie is used as an essential condiment in foods for its pungency and red colour. Besides these properties chillie 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 chillie 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. 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%
