Production and trading potentials and practices in curd chilli in Tamil Nadu – A case study

India has dedicated maximum area under Chilli which is one of the important spices crop in the world. The important states in India growing Chilli are Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. Three stage sampling was taken for the study as the village is mushroomed with cottage industries. There are about 350 units functioning in the village. However, a case study approach alone has been adopted by selecting the cottage industry purposely which is operating at large scale and distributing to different local and national markets. The study found that the area under Chilli is decreasing at national level. However, the production of Chilli is found to be increasing at national level but at regional level, the production is decreasing. Among the several markets for supply of green chilli to the cottage industries, the Oddanchathiram Vegetable Market found to supply the same at very low cost. A proven methodology of processing curd chilli is narrated for further refinement by the cottage industries. In addition to this, the cost of production and potential assembling and trading centers were also discussed in this paper.