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In Pakistan price is under $2 per kg.
Problem is farmers have no knowledge of preserving and packaging.
In the matter of chilli it is done before going to traders.Actually farmers dont do the preserving or packaging, its usually a processing company that buys it from the farmers and then exports it.
In the matter of chilli it is done before going to traders.
Me and my family also have agricultural lands in the area where most of chillies of Pakistan are grown , I mean near Kunri ,KGM , as of today I have 10 acres of chillies which are hybrid, when I was in karchi University I participated in a reseaach about fungus in chillies, i.e root born , fruit born etc, I presented my findings to the agriculture Minister of that time Mr. Nawab yousif talpur in person but result was as usual zeeerooo, few chilli dryers were imported which never went operational , in private sector mian Saleem tried to do something but wasn't cost effective, main factors which are handicapping our chilli exports are lack of interest from provincinal govt. and lack of educated skilled labour, one or two Dubai based Bunya saiths are exporting chillies to M.E via Dubai with complete Monopoly,I have family in interior Sindh. We are Punjabi but my fathers family, grandparents and uncles settled in interior Sindh in a small town called KUNRI after partition so there is the strong connection.
About KUNRI, it is famous for one thing, CHILIES! There is a special breed, called dandi cut is produced only here and is known around the world really.
For preservation, people are really still stuck with old techniques. The crop is laid out in open dry fields after harvest so the sun dries it. Harvest time is dry and dusty part of the year in that area, the crop out is open catches dust and that is a problem in exploring the export potential properly. Also towards the end of that drying process (which takes a few weeks) monsoon starts so it is often that some of the crop is destroyed in rains. The need is for EPB or TDAP as they call it now to step up and establish multiple de-hydration plants. They helped local farmers in Sargodah area with Kino export, establishing countless polishing and processing plants and something similar needs to be done in Kunri for chili. The de-hydration plants will make sure that all crop is as per export standards. Currently, there is one private plant running but we have around 100000 acres of chili farms in that area, one plant wont cut it!
People are taking small steps however to improve the standards. For example, since a few years, an NGO provided the farmers with sheets that they are required to put on the floor before the put the crop on it to dry. That is helping with reducing the dust it collected. Similarly one person i know have set up a small unit near Islamabad, he buy truck load of chili, process it in his unit and is exporting. However non of this is nearly enough. If the gov. can help establish some processing plants, this easily is a multi million dollar export.
To be honest, the field do not really needs skilled labour or educated farmers. They already know about their crop more than the scientists. The only thing required is:There are very small steps required and we already have agricultural department who is only chair breaking. Educating farmers in crop preservation according to European standards and providing plants for de-hydrating can improve our exports. These steps are crucial to reduce trade deficit and generate more foreign exchange.
Nice to know you here. Agree with what you said about the gov. being ineffective. I hope that TDAP, when it was called EPB will take some steps to set up some basic facilities and explore this potential. Till that happens, it will be just some medium level industrialists who will set up small plants on self-help basis to cater his own business needs. The gov. machinery is a mess overall really, will take some serious effort to change that.Me and my family also have agricultural lands in the area where most of chillies of Pakistan are grown , I mean near Kunri ,KGM , as of today I have 10 acres of chillies which are hybrid, when I was in karchi University I participated in a research about fungus in chilies, i.e root born , fruit born etc, I presented my findings to the agriculture Minister of that time Mr. Nawab yousif talpur in person but result was as usual zeeerooo, few chilli dryers were imported which never went operational , in private sector mian Saleem tried to do something but wasn't cost effective, main factors which are handicapping our chilli exports are lack of interest from provincinal govt. and lack of educated skilled labour, one or two Dubai based Bunya saiths are exporting chillies to M.E via Dubai with complete Monopoly,
One thing that current govt can do, is giving some incentives to multinational companies Nestle ,knoor,liverbro. Etc to invest in agri & food related fields for the processing of locally produced commodities, otherwise threaten them to ban their imported food items, its surprising to know that kFC and Piza hut use imported chilli powder and crumbs,To be honest, the field do not really needs skilled labour or educated farmers. They already know about their crop more than the scientists. The only thing required is:
If the farmer get to process his crop well, he will find the buyers himself or with very little help of government. As i told you, i myself know about someone who takes a few truck loads to ISLAMABAD, process them there and then EXPORT to UK. What i mean to say is that you provide some basic facilities and opportunities and the people will explore it and open up new avenues for themselves. But kuch tu krna ho ga sarkar ko!!
- Providing some basic infrastructure for drying of chili in clean standardized conditions. De-Hydration plants setup as gov-public partnerships just like they set up Kino processing plants in Bhalwal or Rice processing plants.
Nice to know you here. Agree with what you said about the gov. being ineffective. I hope that TDAP, when it was called EPB will take some steps to set up some basic facilities and explore this potential. Till that happens, it will be just some medium level industrialists who will set up small plants on self-help basis to cater his own business needs. The gov. machinery is a mess overall really, will take some serious effort to change that.
That is not surprising, its criminal!!One thing that current govt can do, is giving some incentives to multinational companies Nestle ,knoor,liverbro. Etc to invest in agri & food related fields for the processing of locally produced commodities, otherwise threaten them to ban their imported food items, its surprising to know that kFC and Piza hut use imported chilli powder and crumbs,
Thank you friend, sorry had been tied up; will put everything together and recommendations.@denel please shed some knowledge on your preservation technique for European market and cultivation in south Africa. Thank you.
chilli is grown in many areas of sindh, kunri being the largest but there also shortage ofirrigation water has lowered production.issue with export to europen market is our chilli is mainly dried under sun and not in controlled environment and because of moisture in the air fungus grows and increase aflatoxin.Eu has strict aflatoxin requirments and thats why we have failed till now to penetrate Eu market.
I will post my peri-peri plant one tomorrow.View attachment 494712 these are the hybrid variety sky red at my farm,
Since I am a homeopath too so wuld like to add that chillies contain a chemical which is isolated from it and called capsin , which is useful as a analgesic if applied locally , and also the homeopathic medicine made from chilli is called capsicum which is used to cure multiple diseases according to symptoms, famous topical pain killer jell volteran also contain capsin, besides Chinese herbal bames do contain it, most hot chillies belong to Mexico and called hot peppers,
post harvest management is really bad in Pakistan i have dealth with central market (Mandi in urdu) and i am sure we waste almost 20-30% or maybe more because of lack of knowledge about handling and logistics of fruits and vegetables.Thank you friend, sorry had been tied up; will put everything together and recommendations.
I saw the photos; you are using a very different pepper. I grow here peri-peri which is 'local' around this entire region and grows wild from droppings of birds. zero maintenance and it grows for around 5 years and develops into small bush tree. The other is circle of fire cayenne but it is not that good just has a lot of production and good price. Peri-peri commands a higher price though.
Once we harvest the peri-peri which is nearly around the year; i have a small green house - glass sheets area with ventilation and racks of wired bins in shelves; that is where they are dried up. it is very arid here around 12% humidity which is superb and no fungus/mould. Other thing, i dont use any ... zero chemical treatments; entire ground where these grow has been heavily composted with cow + sheep manure; then leave for good 2 months for complete settlement before planting. For HACCAP; i do periodic sampling and send it to a certified lab in Pretoria for analysis.
Once HACCAP certification is done, we have everything vaccuum packaged and sent. I do have a nitrogen/co2 based dryer as well - home built to help kill off any fungus; never used it.
For peri-peri, there is a huge market.
I will post my peri-peri plant one tomorrow.