Research on organic farming in chillies was taken up at RARS, Lam during kharif, 2008-09. Before transplanting of chilli during September, 2008, green manure crop pillipesara (Vigna trilobata) was grown during the months of June and July and incorporated into soil 35 days after sowing. Addition of biomass to the soil by the incorporation of the green manure crop pillipesara was 19.5 t/ha on fresh weight basis and 2.5 t/ha on dry weight basis. Nutrients added to soil through this green manure crop were 76.7 kg N, 12.9 kg P ,71.3 kg, K, 16.5 kg Ca , 8.8 kg Mg per hectare and 52, 2152, 295 and 47 g of Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu per hectare respectively.
When soil nutrients were studied there was sufficient increase in available N (435kg/ha), available P2O5 (66.8kg/ha) and also NH4-N (246 ppm) in soil after incorporation. Nutrient uptake was slightly higher in conventional treatment than organic treatment due to the effect of higher dry matter produced in conventional method. Dry pod yields were 27.5 q/ha in conventional treatment and 23.3 q/ha in the organic treatment. Though the nutrient uptake values and yields were numerically higher in the conventional method, the yields recorded in the organic method were also reasonable and comparable with conventional method.