Johor had the biggest area for chili plantation, but Kelantan was the largest chili producer in 2017

Chilli is a popular vegetable among Malaysians. It is believed to have originated from Mexico and South America. Today, it can be found in many parts of the world.

According to statistics from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), Johor has the largest area of land for chilli plantation.

The area of plantation for chili in the state expanded by 188.5 hectares, from 756.1 ha in 2015 to 944.6 hectares in 2016.

Nevertheless, the number of chillies grown in Johor was reduced from 12,356 million tonnes in 2015 to 11,948 million tonnes in 2016.

Consequently, the area for chili plantation in Johor was downsized to 787.9 hectares in 2017. Despite being the state with the biggest area for chili plantation, Johor was not the largest chili producer in the country in 2017. Kelantan produced more chili than Johor, 5,531 million tonnes to 5,516 million tonnes.

On the contrary, Perak showed an improvement in its chili production from 2015 to 2017, from 2.666 million tonnes to 3,631 million tonnes.

This number grew accordingly for the chili plantation area size in the state, which also gradually increased over the three-year period.

However, the national average production of chilli decreased from 194.75 million tonnes in 2015 to 142.11 million tonnes in 2017.