Red hot chilli planting technique

Red hot chilli planting technique

SIM BAK HENG
2009/07/29A farmer’s fertile mind and quickness to adapt has led to a bigger and better harvest. SIM BAK HENG grills the man on this hot topic

Fadhli Razali and the fruits of his labour. — Pictures by Sim Bak Heng

The chilli padi plant in full fruit.

Chilli plants are individually planted in bags and placed on top of a plastic sheet to ward off pest attacks.

CHILLI farmer, Fadhli Razali, is always looking out for new methods to improve his harvest, which naturally has a steady demand in a country full of lovers of chilli and chilli-infused dishes.

The 27-year-old farmer of Kampung Tanjung Selabu in Muar, started by using the conventional way of planting, but that did not yield the result he expected because of pest attacks.

His knowledge of farming was enriched after attending a course at an agriculture institute in Air Hitam, Kluang, in April.
There, he was introduced to a farming technique called "fertigation".

Fertigation is the application of fertilisers, soil amendments or other water soluble products on crops through an irrigation system.

As soon as he understood the theory and learnt the practical aspects, he applied the technique on a plot of rented land as a pilot project.

With a group of friends, he invested in a piping system to irrigate his plants. Big sheets of plastic were laid over the soil to prevent pest attacks.

It wasn't long before the farmer began seeing the fruits of his labour.

"I have started to harvest every three days this month. I am happy that this technique has worked on my farm -- the fruits are bountiful," said Fadhli.

The technique can also be used to plant other fruit crops such as tomatoes.

Fadhli said the fertigation technique gives a better yield, which could be as high as 4kg of chillies per plant in a year, compared to 3kg or less through the conventional method.

"Moreover, the chillies are fresh and have a longer shelf life," he said.

The chilli plants are individually planted in plastic bags filled with padi husks.

The bags are placed near the irrigation pipes, which are laid parallel to one another. The pipes are linked to a main pipe which is connected to a big tank filled with a mixture of water and fertiliser.

A pump is switched on for 10 minutes three times a day to convey the fluid nutrients into the plant bags through small tubes from the irrigation pipes.

"No soil is used for planting. The nutrients basically come from the water.

"Each plant in a bag is placed on top of a large plastic sheet laid on the ground.

"The plastic sheet is shiny during the day and this prevents pests from approaching the plants," he said.  

All the plants are replaced after a year because of dwindling yields.

Fadhli grows three types of chillies on his farm, which has 1,600 plants.

They are the big chilli, chilli padi and hybrid chilli. The last is a crossbreed of the two other chillies. It is slightly longer than the chilli padi but smaller and shorter than the big chilli.

The hybrid chilli commands a higher price than the others in the market.

The price of hybrid chilli is about RM20 per kg. Chilli padi costs between RM15 and RM20 per kg. Big chilli sells for RM5 to RM6 per kg.