Local Curly Chili Business Opportunities

To this day, chilies are still a favorite horticultural commodity. Even at certain times, demand in the market is very high because supply is limited. So, it's not surprising that the increase in the price of chilies is often a hot topic among the public because this spicy dish has become an inseparable part of Indonesian cuisine. Chili cultivation is classified as high risk. However, the risk is paid in balance with the promised profits. Therefore, strategy and technical and field knowledge are important things to master in order to achieve maximum results by reducing these risks. Call it the rainy season and marketing results.

This content is an opinion/report made by a blogger and has been published on Kompasiana.com with the title ” This is the Reason Why Growing Local Curly Chilies is Better for a Side Business ” Chili is a plant that is often used as a kitchen spice. Therefore, now more and more people are trying to grow it, either for their own consumption or to sell for business purposes. Among the many types of chili in Indonesia, hybrid chili is a type of chili that is often planted because of its high productivity. However, did you know that for a side business, it turns out that local curly chilies also have promising prospects? Check out the explanation below.

Local Curly Chili Business

1. Local Curly Chili Seeds Can Be Cultivated Yourself for Generations

This is the basic and crucial difference between hybrid chilies and local curly chilies . If in hybrid chilies there are the terms F1 and F2, then local chilies do not recognize these terms. What you need to know is that F2 hybrid chilies are chilies with seeds derived from F1. There is a breakdown of traits so that the quality of F2 hybrid chili seeds is below that of F1. So, especially for hybrid chilies, manually making seeds is not recommended, and it is better to buy new seeds. Different from local chilies. Even though the name is “local” or has superior quality in certain areas, local chilies do not have any characteristic properties when processed into seeds. In this way, you can make your own seeds from local chili plants with the same quality. For a side business, wouldn't the availability of seeds be more economical?

2. Local chili cultivation costs are more economical

In farming, we may need to tell the story of “there is capital, there are results”. This also happens in hybrid chili cultivation activities. The capital for fertilizers, insecticides and other treatments is quite large. In addition, hybrid chilies often have problems if the rainfall is too high and the harvest also fails when the rainfall is too low. For a side business, it could be said that this hybrid chili is quite challenging. The story is different, the existence of local chilies is not that “terrifying”. Even though the fruit is not as dense as hybrid chilies, local chilies tend to be more resilient to weather. What's more interesting is that local chilies are safer from leaf curling and yellowing attacks. Even though the planting supplies only use organic chicken fertilizer and urea in ordinary beds, and do not use plastic mulch. What about pests? All plants also die easily if they are eaten by caterpillars and mites. Therefore, insecticides and fungicides are still needed.

3. The harvest period is longer than hybrid chilies

It wouldn't be complete if we didn't look at the two chili varieties in terms of harvest. As said at the beginning, large capital will be followed by an abundant harvest. This often applies to hybrid chili cultivation. Unfortunately, the price of chilies on the market is often more expensive than the taste of the chilies themselves. As a result, farmers complain that they rarely make a profit but only recoup their capital. As the saying goes, dig a hole and cover the hole. It's not finished there, based on BPP Sandaran's review, the frequency of chili harvesting can be done 12-20 times until the plants are 6-7 months old depending on the implementation (care of the chili).

However, in reality in the field, most hybrid chilies are only able to gain a harvest frequency of 8-10 times, if they are picked red. If it is picked green, it could be even smaller. But yes, it is appropriate, because the harvest productivity is also high. Meanwhile for local chilies, the normal harvest frequency is in the range of 10-12 times. The better the crop management, the greater the frequency of harvest.  Based on the 3 main reasons above, it seems that local curly chilies tend to be more appropriate for people who use farming as a side business. Sumber