GENERALITIES
Pepper is the most important of the species whose global trade reaches 509 million dollars, with many countries that import it and very few products.
Pepper is a perennial plant, native to India, a country that is currently one of the largest producers of this spice. In Latin America the main producer is Brazil and the country that matters most is the United States. The two known kinds of pepper are made from the fruits; the black in which the whole fruit is dried and the white in which the ripe fruits are fermented to remove the skin and the remaining grains are dried.
Pepper was one of the first spices that was introduced to Europe with the opening of land trade with the East. Native to India, pepper plants were brought to Indonesia by Hindu colonists around 100 BC and from Indonesia to Malaysia about 600 BC. Many centuries later, when the maritime routes to the East Indies were discovered, the Portuguese, Spaniards, French, English and Dutch became interested in the lucrative business of spices from the Far East to Europe and in the following years to the new world.
This plant has not only undoubtedly culinary applications, it is also used in medicine. Effectively fights varicose or varicocele, liver, bladder or matrix hemorrhages. It is attributed vasoconstricting properties. Heals hemorrhoids.
CLASSIFICATION AND BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION.
The pepper family contains about twelve genera and one thousand four hundred species of herbs, shrubs, guides and trees native to the tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
The genus Piper includes 600 to 700 species, many of which have aromatic properties. The relatives of the black pepper with economic or ornamental value are walnut - betel (Piper betel L.), cubeba (P: cubeba L. f.), Kava (P. methysticum Forst.) And the peanut crops (Peperomia spp.). The peppers (chiles) red and green of the vegetables belong to the genus Capsicum of the Solanaceae family.
Piper nigrum L, is a smooth plant that climbs by means of its adhesive roots. The stems are round, with very thickened knots, opaque and light green or yellowish green. The leaves are distichous, short-stalked, broadly ovate - elliptical or ovate - oblong, with the base oblique, obtuse or rounded and the apex abruptly acuminate, leathery, dark green and bright above, whitish green or sea green, opaque and densely provided with hairy white spots underneath, generally 5 to 7 ribs rarely 9 ribs, 5-18 cm long and 2-12.5 cm wide. The petiole is furrowed on its anterior side, sheathed the lower half and is 1-4 cm long. The inflorescences are hanging or with patently curved spikes, short stem and 2-15 cm long. The flowers are small, usually unisexual - dioecious, but often polygamous and slightly odorous. The bracts of the female flowers are widely ovate, fleshy and attached to the spine. The male flowers have two stamens. The female flowers have a round ovary, three to four and rarely five lanceolate stigmas. The fruiting spikes are 5-20 cm long. The berries are sessile, globose, red when ripe, black when dry and 0.3-0.6 cm in diameter.
Unlike what happens with other species, production is very stable in a relatively short time.
The expected yield varies with the age of the plant and other factors; for green pepper, in the first year of production the expected yield is 2.6 t / ha, in the second year 5.2 t / ha, in the third year 10.3 t / ha, and the fourth year 12 , 9 t / ha. After the yield stabilizes. The yield in dry pepper corresponds to approximately a quarter of the production of green pepper
VARIETIES
Pepper is almost unique among tropical crops, in that only a small number of varieties have shown value to be grown. In addition to the productivity characteristics under specialized soil and climate conditions, and resistance to root rot of Phytophthora, an important fact for the selection of a commercial variety is the uniformity of maturation, since the spike of the fruit is due harvest whole and only the fully mature berries produce pepper of the best quality. In Indonesia three varieties are cultivated, three in Sumatra (Lada Korintji, Lada Djambi and Lada Belantug) and two in Bangka and Billiton Islands (Lampong and Muntok).
The use of high yielding varieties resistant to root rot is recommended: Kudarivalli and Belantung from Sumatra, as well as Balamkota, which is the commercially cultivated variety currently and others such as Kuching and Singapore that have high yields.
Plants of the Lada Korintji variety have a crawling habit in their development, giving mature specimens a more or less conical shape. The ears of fruit rarely exceed 8 cm in length. The individual berries are the largest known of all varieties. The mooring of the fruit is more regular than with the Lada Djambi variety. It is the least resistant of the Sumatran varieties to root rot caused by Phytophthora. The Lada Djambi plants are similar in many ways except for their longer fruiting spikes, which generally measure about 10 cm in length, produce small berries, the mooring of the fruit is less regular and have moderate susceptibility to rotting. root. The plants of the Lada Belantung variety are growing much faster than any of the previous ones, obtaining a more erect and cylindrical shape. The size of the fruiting spikes and berries is similar to those of Lada Djambi, although the fruit's mooring is more regular. They are more or less resistant to root rot. Lampong pepper plants produce large, bright-colored seeds of uniform size and are quite susceptible to root rot, while Muntok plants have dark-colored seeds of regular size and are moderately susceptible to root rot. . The Sumatra varieties are usually grown for their black pepper, while the Bangka varieties for their white pepper.
PROPAGATION
The propagation of pepper can be done by seed, layering or cutting.
The reproduction by means of seed is not recommended because the future planting will have a lot of variability.
The most recommended type of reproduction for this species is by cuttings with three to four knots, from the vertical stems or main bejucio, vigorous and productive plants, whose age is not more than five years. The cuttings should be kept in places with 50 to 75% shade, with high relative humidity, and irrigate them according to the needs to keep them moist.
The cuttings should not have leaves or branches and should be cut at the base of a knot. It is convenient to put some fungicide and plant them in black polyethylene bags 24 cm high by 16 cm in diameter, with enough holes to favor drainage and with soil growth stimulants to accelerate the rooting but without response, except when cutting is been cut after a period of stress, such as a dry season or flowering.
The soil for the bags must be pre-treated with a soil fungicide such as the commercial mixture of carboxin with captan (Vitavax, 3 g p.c / l), to avoid diseases in the roots.
Once rooted, the cuttings are moved to a suitable place for their acclimatization for a period of approximately three months. Finally, when they are about 25 to 30 cm tall, they are planted in the final field.
Culture
The cultivation of pepper on a commercial scale is an art, which requires precise attention by the producer, as well as favorable conditions of soil and climate, so that it leaves profits. The best possible soil, perfect drainage, abundant fertilization and a large amount of rain distributed evenly throughout the year, are the necessary characteristics for its good production.
Climate and Soils.
Pepper is a crop of the humid tropical zone and it adapts to altitudes lower than 1.000 masl; the best results are obtained at altitudes below 600 meters above sea level.
It requires a hot and humid climate, with annual rainfall between 1,500 and 2,500 mm, well distributed throughout the year, since it does not withstand prolonged periods of drought. The optimum annual average temperature varies between 25 and 30oC and humidity between 60-93%.
It prefers the soils of alluvial origin, loose and with good drainage, reason why the heavy and impermeable clayey soils are not recommended. A pH of 5.5 is recommended, at 6.5 with a good content of organic matter. They must be soils of excellent natural fertility.
Slightly inclined soils with natural drainage are preferred. It can also be planted on flat but well-drained soils; in the latter case it should be sown in very high lomillos. In the case of sowing in sloping areas, the ridges should be oriented according to contour lines, in order to avoid soil erosion.
The sowing is recommended to be carried out at the beginning of the rains (May-June).
Plantation
When planting a pepper field, stakes of about 60 cm long, about two thirds approximately, are buried in well-prepared strains, 60 x 60 x 60 cm in size, spaced 2 x 2 m or 2.5 x 2.5 m between one and the other. High growth trees, healthy and good-quality wooden desserts or concrete poles are placed near the strains, at least 4 m high, to support the guides. After the stakes have grown more or less 1.5 m high, they are placed in shallow trenches to promote layered. Some eight to ten months later, use the removed material as additional stakes, if needed. In another eight to ten months, the guides will have grown to almost half of their supports and will have begun to bloom. For best results, the first spikes should be removed as soon as they are formed. The guides go into production, mature, when they have more or less than five to six years and continue producing for another ten to fifteen years. Essential for this plant are the continued attention to details such as pruning and tying the guides to their supports and proper soil management.
Tutors and Supports
Pepper plants, because they are climbing, need a support, support or tutor for their growth; They can be live guardians or simple posts.
As live tutors we recommend blackwood trees or poros, which can be pruned and do not compete too much with the pepper plant.
When the pepper is transplanted, these tutors must be "glued", be about two meters high above the surface of the soil and a minimum of two inches thick. so they should be planted early (three or four months), at the same distance that the plants will be planted.
Land preparation
The most important activity is cleaning the land, first with chapia, then with herbicide. The plowing and the traced are very convenient if the land has some compaction. Then proceed to mark the planting sites.
If live tutors are planted, the preparation of the soil will be done before sowing them.
Sowing
To plant the pepper cuttings holes of 30 cm are opened in the three dimensions, at a distance between 15 and 30 cm from the tutor. In addition, it is highly recommended before planting, disinfect the soil with fungicide for the soil, such as PCNB (4 g / liter), which is applied with a shower.
For the pepper plantations densities are recommended that oscillate between 1,600 and 2,500 plants by hectare, with a distance of 2 m between plants and 2 m between rows, when they are used like tutor dead posts or 2,5 m between plants and 2,5 m between rows, when the tutor is alive.
Areas with slopes less than 5%, require the making of loins; in those with steeper slopes, it is sown in plan and individual retention terraces can be built for each plant.
Once the cuttings have been planted, they should be tied to the tutor with a suitable material such as the wick, so that they adhere to the tutor. Plastic materials should be avoided, as they can strangle the plant when it grows.