1. Module III: Soil and Climatic Requirements Lesson 1: Chili Pepper Soils After completing this lesson, you have learned to answer: 1. What type of soils are best suited for chili pepper cultivation? 2. What soil aspects are considered in the choice of a soil for chili pepper ? 3. Do chili pepper tolerate soil salinity and alkalinity?

2. Module III: Soil and Climatic Requirements Lesson 1: Chili Pepper Soils Loam or sandy loam with good water holding capacity and fertile soil. Loamy soil

3. Module III: Soil and Climatic Requirements Lesson 1: Chili Pepper Soils Fertile, well ‑ drained soils are important to optimize yield. Soils with loam or sand loam texture, having good water retention capacity are best suited for chili pepper cultivation.

4. Module III: Soil and Climatic Requirements Lesson 1: Chili Pepper Soils Chili pepper grown on deep, well drained permeable soils usually develops tap root systems. Mature plant roots may penetrate to depths of 4 to 6 feet in an ideal soil. Root development can be severely restricted by soil conditions such as excessively high or low soil moisture levels, hard pan and compaction.

5. Module III: Soil and Climatic Requirements Lesson 1: Chili Pepper Soils Chili pepper has low salt tolerance - slightly less than tomato. It does well in pH range of 6.0-7.5 as it doesn’t tolerates salinity and alkalinity. Chili pepper is sensitive to aluminum toxicity and soils with acid saturation higher than 20% can pose a problem. Soils seriously infected with witch weed or striga must be avoided.

6. Module III: Soil and Climatic Requirements Lesson 1: Chili Pepper Soils Soils seriously infected with witch weed or striga must be avoided. Striga infected Chili pepper field

7. Module III: Soil and Climatic Requirements Lesson 1: Chili Pepper Soils In tropical and subtropical conditions of India, chili pepper is extensively grown in light - textured red sandy, red loamy, alluvial and coastal - alluvial soils as well as on mixed black and red and medium black soils. Chili pepper is also grown on medium black soils, deep alluvial loams and on sandy and gravelly soils of poor fertility with low organic matter content but the yields are low.