How to cultivate Javanese Chili (Piper retrofractum Vahl)?

Classification of Javanese Chili (Piper retrofractum Vahl.)

  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Divisio: Spermatophyta
  • Divisio: Angiosperms
  • Class: Dicotyledoneae
  • Order: Piperales
  • Family: Piperaceae
  • Genus: Piper
  • Species: Piper retrofractum Vahl.

Name designation in several regions

  • In English, herbal chilies are known as Java long pepper;
  • Sumatra: long pepper, Javanese chili, long chili.
  • Java: chilies, chilies, areuy chilies, chilies of Java, chili sula.
  • Madura is named after cabhi jhamo, cabhi ongghu, cabhi solah,
  • while in Makassar it is known as chili base, chili sula, chili herbs (Java), chili jhamo, chili ongghu, chili solah (Madura), chili, chili (Sulawesi).

Description of Piper retrofractum Vahl - Javanese chilies

The Javanese chilli plant is in the form of perennial plants, stems with wild branching, growing climbing, twisting with its sticky roots, reaching 10 meters in length. Branching starts from the base which resembles wood. Single leaf, oval to oval, rounded base, tapered tip, flat edge, pinnate, smooth upper surface, mottled bottom surface, 8.5–30 centimeters long, 3-13 centimeters wide and green.

Compound interest and unisexual, compound interest is arranged in the form of grains. Stamens amount to 2-3 pieces and yellowish green. The fruit is elliptical, cylindrical, measuring 4-6 cm. Young fruit is green, when it is quite old it will be ivory yellow, and when it is ripe it will be red.

Compound fruit in the form of grains, gray to gray brown or black gray to black; elliptical to slindric, the tip slightly tapers; 2 cm to 7 cm long, 4 mm to 8 mm diameter; long handled or without handles. The outer surface is uneven, protruding regularly.

On the cross-section of the grains appear stone fruits, each with a protective leaf arranged in a spiral on the grain axis, sometimes a 6-grained center is hollow. The rind is dark brown to black, sometimes lighter in color. Seed coat brown; almost the entire seed core consists of a white periperm.

The stone fruit is oval, measuring approximately 2 mm. The growth of Javanese chilies from three production centers from Madura, Lamongan and Lampung has a fairly good adaptation when planted in the Bogor area. All the growth component variables of Javanese chilies did not show any differences even though Javanese chilies from the Madura region had higher leaf length and width.

Javanese chilies originating from the Lampung area are more susceptible to stem rot and Radhopholus simillis nematodes, while Javanese chilies from Lamongan are more resistant.

Requirements for growing Javanese chilies

Javanese chili requires a temperature of 200C-30 ° C, rainfall ranges from 1,200-3,000 mm / year, at least 80 mm / month, evenly throughout the year and does not want long dry months. In the long dry season all the leaves will fall and grow back in the rainy season.

Although this does not result in death, it can reduce fruit productivity. Air humidity between 40-80%. Chili Java requires fertile and loose land, elevation 1-600 m above sea level with a temperature of 20-30°C, suitable soil types Andosol, Latosol, Grumosol, Regosol, and Podsolik, the desired soil texture is clay containing sand, porous, good drainage with soil reaction (pH) between 5.5-7.0.

How to Cultivate Javanese Chili

Land Preparation

Land preparation is carried out in the dry season, weeds and shrubs are cleaned, the rest can be used as compost or for mulch. If done in monoculture, make planting holes with a spacing of 2 x 2 m.

If as an intercropping plant, a planting hole is made in the east at a distance of 20 cm from the enforcer plant. The length, width and depth of the planting hole are 40 x 40 x 40 cm or 50 x 50 x 50 cm, respectively. At the beginning of the rainy season the planting hole is covered with a topsoil mixture, plus 5-10 kg of manure and 0.5 kg of dolomite per hole.

The planting hole is closed until 20 cm high mounds are formed. The 1.75 m long climbing pole of the gamal or dadap is planted at a distance of 10 cm to the west of the planting hole.

Preparation of Seeds Javanese Chili

Procurement of herbal chilies can be done vegetatively using cuttings or generative methods using seeds. At the farmer level, cuttings are generally used, because it is more practical and the resulting plant will be the same as the parent tree. Propagation by seed is not commonly used, except for plant breeding purposes. Plant material used by farmers, generally long cuttings derived from soil tendrils (worm tendrils) along ± 50 cm or 50-60 cm long tendrils.

Planting Javanese Chili

Javanese chilies are generally planted as intercrops in community forests or protected forests under the staple tree trees for climbing. Can also be grown in monoculture. However, in the context of efficiency and increasing land productivity, herbal chilies are recommended to be planted in an intercropping pattern with seasonal crops.

The Javanese Chili Planting Pattern

Javanese chili can be grown in monoculture or polyculture. In addition to being considered inefficient in land use and radiation, the monoculture cropping pattern also causes low land productivity, resulting in low farmers' income. Seeing the physiological, morphological, and growth requirements such as chili herbs including adaptive plants under the shade, so that they can grow and produce well under 50-75% solar radiation, shallow root structures and a short radius, the shape of the canopy is not wide and After harvesting the fruit and herbal chilies after the age of 1-2 years, the herbal chili plants have the potential to be developed using a polyculture cropping pattern.

Polycultural cropping patterns can provide several advantages, namely increasing land effectiveness, time and solar energy, intercropping can function as a source of income before Javanese chilli plants produce, maintaining farmer income stability due to price fluctuations or crop failure of Javanese chilies, reducing maintenance costs, and plant biomass. between can be used as organic matter, green manure or mulch. Based on the aforementioned considerations, it is recommended that the herbal chilies be cultivated in a polycultural pattern.

The polyculture cropping pattern based on herbal chilies can take the following forms:

  1. Mixed cropping with low tree crops such as coffee, cocoa, banana, papaya and so on,
  2. Herbal chilies as intercrops under trees such as coconuts and fruits,
  3. Intercropping with other medicinal plants, rice, secondary crops, essential or other seasonal plants.

Maintenance

Fertilization

Although the herbal chilies can grow and produce in dry or barren soils, over time the soil will experience a lack of nutrients. To restore the soil to fertile conditions, fertilization is necessary using organic fertilizers (manure) and non-organic fertilizers.

Weeding

It is done in the usual way, which is to mechanically clean all weeds at the same time as lightly cultivating the soil. When weeding is carried out, there also needs to be some special treatment, namely:
  • Tying climbing tendrils to poles or support plants. The growing shoots are climbed by tying a rope to the climbing tree.
  • Plant formation by directing the shoots or tendrils that grow upward to the side, so that the Javanese chili plants become thick. This method is to make it easier when picking fruit.

Pests and Diseases

There are not many pests and diseases that attack the herbal chili plants, but there are a number of pests and diseases that need to be watched out for:
  • Climbing stem borer. These pests are controlled by technical culture through the provision of balanced fertilizers, spacing and maintaining the cleanliness of the garden.
  • Jaundice. Control is carried out by technical culture by using seeds from healthy plants, adjusting spacing and arranging garden irrigation in one rainy season. It is chemically carried out using a fungicide, Atracolzonip, Difolatan 4F.
Harvest and Post Harvest The quality of herbal chili production is largely determined by the treatment of harvest time and post-harvest handling. Harvesting activities need to pay attention to the right stage of fruit maturity, while post-harvest handling must be carried out quickly. Research related to harvest and post-harvest is still very lacking. Javanese chilli plants begin to bear fruit after one year of age and fertilization continues throughout the year, so harvesting can be carried out periodically and continuously. Fruit harvesting is done by select picking on fruit that has reached an old stage, namely fruit that has been yellowish green to slightly reddish in color. How to harvest Javanese chilies is done by carefully picking the fruit stalks one by one. In one year, herbal chilies can be harvested between 3- 5 times depending on the growth of the plant. Production in the first year averaged 0.2 kg of dry chilies / tree or equivalent to 0.6 kg of fresh fruit. Meanwhile, adult plants can reach 1.2 kg of dry chilies or the equivalent of 3.6 kg of fresh fruit. If the fruit is harvested at a ripe stage (dark red and soft), the fruit will be easily damaged in the form of fruit and dry, so the quality is not good. Post-harvest handling activities for Javanese chilies include the following activities: The collection of crops collected in a strategic place. Cleaning: the harvest that has been collected is immediately cleaned of chilies useless leaves and twigs. Sorting and selection: rotten, bruised or abnormal chilies are separated from good and smooth fruit. Drying: the sorted / selected fruit is then dried by drying it in the sun on a woven bamboo mat or tampah. Avoid excessive piles of fruit as this will make it easier for the fruit to get moldy so that the quality decreases. Drying time depends on the weather. If there is enough sunshine, it takes 5-7 days. Fruit is considered dry if the water content is below 10% or the color of the fruit becomes dark brown and hard. Packaging: dried fruit is packed with gunny sacks or plastic sacks. Storage: the collected packaging is stored in a dry, well-ventilated warehouse. Use a block or bamboo base so that the packaging does not come into direct contact with the tile / floor of the warehouse.

Harvest and Post Harvest

The quality of herbal chili production is largely determined by the treatment of harvest time and post-harvest handling. Harvesting activities need to pay attention to the right stage of fruit maturity, while post-harvest handling must be carried out quickly. Research related to harvest and post-harvest is still very lacking.

Javanese chilli plants begin to bear fruit after one year of age and fertilization continues throughout the year, so harvesting can be carried out periodically and continuously. Fruit harvesting is done by select picking on fruit that has reached an old stage, namely fruit that has been yellowish green to slightly reddish in color.

How to harvest Javanese chilies is done by carefully picking the fruit stalks one by one. In one year, herbal chilies can be harvested between 3- 5 times depending on the growth of the plant.

Production in the first year averaged 0.2 kg of dry chilies / tree or equivalent to 0.6 kg of fresh fruit. Meanwhile, adult plants can reach 1.2 kg of dry chilies or the equivalent of 3.6 kg of fresh fruit. If the fruit is harvested at a ripe stage (dark red and soft), the fruit will be easily damaged in the form of fruit and dry, so the quality is not good.

Post-harvest handling activities for Javanese chilies include the following activities:

  1. The collection of crops collected in a strategic place.
  2. Cleaning: the harvest that has been collected is immediately cleaned of chilies useless leaves and twigs.
  3. Sorting and selection: rotten, bruised or abnormal chilies are separated from good and smooth fruit.
  4. Drying: the sorted / selected fruit is then dried by drying it in the sun on a woven bamboo mat or tampah. Avoid excessive piles of fruit as this will make it easier for the fruit to get moldy so that the quality decreases. Drying time depends on the weather. If there is enough sunshine, it takes 5-7 days. Fruit is considered dry if the water content is below 10% or the color of the fruit becomes dark brown and hard.
  5. Packaging: dried fruit is packed with gunny sacks or plastic sacks.
  6. Storage: the collected packaging is stored in a dry, well-ventilated warehouse. Use a block or bamboo base so that the packaging does not come into direct contact with the tile / floor of the warehouse.


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