| Also called Garden Pepper (Capsicum), any of a great number of
plants of the nightshade family, Solanaceae, notably Capsicum
annuum, C. frutescens, and C. boccatum, Chilli is the universal
spice of India. It is cultivated in all the States and Union Territories of the
country. The important States growing chilli are Andhra Pradesh,
Orissa, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil
Nadu. Andhra Pradesh alone commands 46% of the chilli production in
India. As per the latest statistics, India produced 8,00,100 tonnes
of dry chilli from an area of 9,30,000 hectare. |
