Cabai Sonar

Cabai Sonar, commonly sold as Sonar F1, is an Indonesian hybrid cabai rawit released through PT BISI International and distributed under the Cap Kapal Terbang and Chia Tai Seed branding. It was officially released as a superior variety in 2009 and later ministerial description material lists it as a double-cross hybrid from Indonesia.

The plant is upright, strong, and short-jointed, with a reported height of about 58 to 110 cm and broad adaptation from lowland to highland conditions, including about 150 to 1,050 metres above sea level. Public variety descriptions and seller references consistently describe it as easy to grow, widely adapted, and strongly productive, with tolerance or resistance claims around bacterial wilt, anthracnose, fusarium, thrips, and aphids.

Its fruit is a classic rawit type with a cylindrical body, pointed tip, smooth skin, and an upright fruiting habit. Official and commercial descriptions place the pods at about 4.5 to 5.5 cm long and about 5 to 7 mm in diameter, with individual fruit weight around 2.0 to 2.5 g. The pods begin dark green and ripen to bright red, and the line is regularly described as suitable for both green harvest and fully ripe red harvest.

Cabe Sonar is known in Indonesian growing and market circles for combining strong heat with commercial practicality. Official description material lists fruit yield at about 10 to 16 tonnes per hectare, while agricultural trade sources and field reports describe first harvest at roughly 73 to 75 days after transplanting, yields up to about 20 tonnes per hectare in favourable production systems, and fruit that stores and transports well over long distances. Field reporting from Bondowoso also describes Sonar as popular in trade because its fruit is relatively larger than many other rawit types, making it attractive for markets that prefer a coarser, larger-fruited rawit.

Culturally and commercially, the variety is positioned as a very hot Indonesian rawit used for spicy food applications and the fresh chilli trade. Agricultural seller descriptions specifically mention it as suitable for sambal matah, bon cabe, ayam geprek, and other strongly spicy uses, and it is repeatedly described as a favourite among growers because of its heavy fruit set, fast picking, and strong market demand. Its core identity is a dark-green-to-red Indonesian hybrid rawit with upright fruit, strong heat, broad adaptation, and a reputation as a high-output farmer's variety.