Bell peppers are one of the most valuable crops across the globe. The crop is commercially grown for vegetable and processing purposes. A detailed account of growing practices for bell peppers is given below:
Climate: Bell peppers are tropical to sub-tropical in their growing habit. Since they are tropical in habit, they need a warm, humid climate, and plenty of sunlight, preferably 6-8 hours of daylight. However, these plants are not sensitive to photoperiod or length of the day.
Bell peppers can tolerate extremes of climate better than other members of Solanaceae family. However, the plants cannot withstand long frosts and will die at freezing temperature. These plants prefer a temperature range of 20-250C. They thrive well in areas having a moderate rainfall; however excessive rainfall is not desirable as it causes defoliation and root rot or damping off of seedlings and young plants.
Soil: Bell peppers can be grown in almost any soils but they prefer heavy, well-drained soils that are rich in organic matter with a soil pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Where the seasons are short, red soils or sandy and sandy loam soils are preferred. They are not very sensitive to soil acidity, but a strongly acid soil should be limed to make it moderate or slightly acidic. The plants cannot tolerate highly saline/salty soils. Waterlogged soils should be avoided.
Propagation: Seeds are used for raising the seedlings. Seeds are sown at the onset of monsoons in the tropics. In case of hybrid varieties, seed rate is approx. 250g/ha of area and in case of open-pollinated varieties, seed rate is approx. 300g/ha of area, depending on environmental and growing conditions.
Raising of Seedlings: Seedlings are either raised in well-prepared nursery beds or in individual plastic trays filled with sterilized growing-media. For open field cultivation of bell peppers, seedlings may be raised in nursery beds while for greenhouse production of bell peppers, seedlings may be raised in plastic trays filled with growing media.
Nursery Bed preparation: Beds having a size of 7.5m long x 1.2m wide x 15cm high are prepared in a location having shade. A bed to bed distance of 50 cm should be maintained.
Note: If plastic trays are used for raising seedlings, these trays should be having a cell size of 1.5″ × 1.5″.
After preparing the nursery beds, the soil fertility should be increased. Soil fertility may be enhanced by adding farmyard manure and compost. After that NPK fertilizers such as 15:15:15 mixture of NPK @ 0.5kg /bed may be incorporated into the top soil for ensuring sufficient plant nutrients in the soil. Soon after fertilizer mixing, a light irrigation may be given.
After a few days of nursery bed preparation, seeds may be sown in nursery beds at a row to row distance of 7.5cm at a depth of at least 1cm. A light irrigation is given after seed sowing. Light mulching with a biodegradable material is done after seed sowing until seed germination to protect the seeds as well as to ensure soil moisture conservation.
Note: If seeds are sown in plastic trays, they need to be treated with a recommended fungicidal solution. After that, seeds may be sown directly in each cell filled with moist growing media. After seed sowing, trays are covered with a polythene sheet until seed germination.
If soil temperature is kept below 300C, seeds will germinate within 10 days.
Growing seedlings may be fed with two applications of a fertilizer mixture (calcium nitrate and potassium nitrate @ 2g each in 1 L water) through fertigation. First application is at 25 DAS (days after sowing) and second application is 35 DAS.
Transplanting: 40-45 days old seedlings are used for transplanting. Hardening of seedlings is recommended before transplanting. During hardening process, irrigation is stopped, almost one week before transplanting.
Site Preparation: Soil sterilization, soil fumigation or soil solarization, any of these, is recommended before soil preparation to make soil pathogen-free. One or two weeks after soil treatment, soil may be prepared by tilling, leveling and conditioning. Fertility of the top soil may be enriched by adding loads of organic manures and farm yard manure. Farmyard manure at the rate of 250 quintals for a dry/rainfed crop and 500 quintals for an irrigated crop per hectare may be incorporated in the soil at the time of site preparation.After site preparation, field beds or ridges of convenient sizes are prepared and seedlings are planted along these ridges.
Planting: In hills, ideal planting time is February to June while for plains; ideal planting time is March to April. Transplanting should be done on a cool day to avoid the wilting of the newly transplanted seedlings. One and a half month old seedlings i.e. 45-day old seedlings at 4-5 leaves stage are most suitable for transplanting in the open fields. There are mainly two types of planting systems that can be adopted for bell pepper plantations. Single row planting system and double row planting system.
In single row system of planting, only one row per bed is prepared with an ideal spacing of 45cm x 45cm for open-pollinated varieties and 90 cm x 30cm for hybrid varieties.
Double row system of planting is commonly practiced for large-scale, commercial production purposes as high planting density in this system yields higher crop yield per unit area. In double row system, 2 rows are prepared per bed with a row to row distance of 45cm and bed to bed distance of 1m. Plant to plant spacing is kept at 30–45cm within the rows.
Training and Other Inter-Cultural Practices: Pinching is generally advised for vigorous vegetative growth and fruit set. During pinching, buds from the first and second nodes are removed; sometimes, unproductive branches below the first node are also removed by clipping them off. Staking using either wooden logs or bamboo sticks or similar strong supports is advised for tall growing hybrid capsicum plants.
Fertilizer Schedule: Capsicum/bell pepper plants require heavy nutrition as they are heavy feeders; and therefore fertilization schedule should be carefully planned. FYM (farmyard manure) @ 25tons/hectare is recommended at the time of field preparation for mixing with the top soil. For better results, apply adequate quantities of neem cake along with FYM. An ideal fertilizer schedule is as given below:
- Open-Pollinated Cultivars NPK @120:80:50kg /Ha
- Hybrid Cultivars NPK @200:180:150kg/Ha
While applying fertilizers, 1/3 rd of N and full quantities of P and K are applied as basal dose and 2/3 rd of N is applied in two equal doses 30 and 60 days after transplanting.
While fertilizing the plants, care must be taken not to apply excess nitrogen as it may cause blossom-end rot of capsicum plants. If traditional irrigation methods are followed, after fertilizer application, main field is irrigated through furrow system of irrigation; and then capsicum seedlings are planted. If drip irrigation system is followed, fertigation is practiced; in fertigation, fertilizers are supplied through drip irrigational water.
Irrigation: Frequent irrigation during vegetative growth phase of the plants is recommended for capsicum plants in order to avoid water stress for the growing plants. If proper production practices are followed, 15 irrigations are ideal for a small plantation of capsicum plants. Drip irrigation system is highly effective as it causes neither overwatering nor under watering. Overwatering results in leaf curl while under watering results in moisture stress.
Disease-Pest Management: Major pests of bell peppers are cutworms, aphids, whiteflies, flower thrips, mites, and the pepper weevils and beetles. Sometimes, root-knot nematodes may also be a problem. Major diseases are bacterial wilt, bacterial spot, powdery mildew, damping-off, and other root-rots caused by Phytophthora spp. or Pythium spp.. Viral diseases are also a problem in bell pepper cultivation. The best control measure for diseases and pests is to keep a healthy ecosystem always. Key components of a healthy agro ecosystem include:
- Proper land preparation prior to planting
- Improving soil fertility by the use of organic manures and fertilizers, organic mulches, and rotation with cover crops
- Selection of varieties adapted to the location
- Proper irrigational management to prevent drought or water logging
- Use of windbreaks and/or intercrops to minimize damage caused by excessive winds
- Intercropping with compatible crops
- Understanding about pest life-cycles
After care: After the seedlings get well established in the main field, mulching is done with biodegradable materials in order to retain soil moisture and to avoid moisture stress at the root zone. Capsicum plants have a bidirectional root development; therefore root zone should never be disturbed while plants are growing. If root zones of growing capsicum plants are disturbed, it may cause blossom-end rot of the plants. Weeding is a mandatory cultural practice and manual weeding is recommended. Chemical weed control may also be practiced in severe infestations. However, for smaller plantations, chemical control is not recommended due to chemical residue-related health risks.
Harvesting: It takes about 45 days after transplanting of the plants for the fruits to develop into maturity. Fruits are harvested at ripe green stage and capsicum plants are irrigated two days before scheduled harvesting date to facilitate harvesting process. Fruits are harvested by hand picking using a sharp knife. Fruits may be harvested during a period of 7 – 10 days. Times of pickings differ with varietal types. For open-pollinated varieties, SIX pickings are done while for hybrid varieties TWELVE pickings can be done.
Harvest Yield: Yield of the capsicum depends on its varietal type and production practices. Under normal cultural practices the yield for open-pollinated varieties may be 10-15 tons/acre and for hybrid varieties may be approx. 20-25 tons/acre.
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