Chili cultivation on tin mined land at Bangka Island: Prospects and constraints

Abstract

Chili (Capsicum sp.) is one of most valuable crop in some part of Indonesia due to high price and profitability compared to another crop. However, growing chili needs high capital and special expertize due its growth requirements. All chili cultivar needs good drainage land and good soil nutrients status for their optimum growth. Meanwhile, tin mined land is very degraded land and the tailing dominated by quartz sand. Poor soil physical properties and poor nutrient status cause this land unsuitable for most crops including chili. However, high demand and high price, promises profitable chili cultivation on such land. Advanced technologies in fertilizer and water management have been assessed at Bukit Kijang Village, Bangka Island and showed very promising results for expansion. Amending soil with mixture of manure and biochar increased water holding capacity and cation exchange capacity and hence, increased yield. Although attained yield of chili was 5.7 t ha-1, which is about 23.7 % from the average of agronomic potential yield, the net profit ranged from IDR 51.8 to 92.9 million per year after taking into account the investment for fertigation installation. The main constraints identified included low water holding capacity due to sandy texture. However, this constraints could be solved by drip irrigation technique and fertigation system. Pest and diseases were another contraints that also contributed significantly to decreased chili yield.