Technical Efficiency of Chili Production (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Chili pepper (English) whose botanical name is Capsicum annuum (chili peppers) and Capsicum frutescens (includes bird's eye chili) are widely used as a condiment and spice all over the world. Chili peppers are native to South and Central America. They were introduced in South Asia in the 1500s and have come to dominate the world spice trade. India is now the largest producer of chilies in the world followed by China and Pakistan. World production of chilies during 2007-08 was estimated to be 20.98 lakh tones. The top-10 chili producing countries-India, China, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Mexico, Vietnam, Peru, Pakistan, Ghana and Bangladesh, accounted for more than 85% of the world production in 2007. The lion's share is taken by India with 36% share in global production, followed by China 11%, Bangladesh 8%, Peru 8% and Pakistan 6% (Karvy, 2008). Chili pepper is thought to be the most popular spice with over 20% of the worlds' population using it in some form or the other.