Studies on Variability of Plant Characters in Two Populations of Chilli (Capsicum annum) CV PC-1

Abstract

Chilli cv. PC-1 is popular in Batticaloa district due to its high pungency and resistant to pests and diseases. However, farmers faced problems in marketing due to variation in fruit quality with respect to colour, shape, size, etc. This is due to the unavailability of genetically pure population of chilli cv. PC-1.An investigation was conducted to study the variability and to select promising plants from two populations of chilli cv. PC-1 with Dark green Long fruit and Light yellow Round fruit types. Plants were selected randomly from these populations and were evaluated for quantitative characters such as canopy height, number of primary branches, leaf length, leaf width, fruit length, fruit width, fruit weight, number of fruits per plant and yield. The collected data were statistically analyzed to determine the level of significance. The correlation studies of the quantitative characters were found. They were canopy height at 100% flowering and canopy height at last harvest; canopy height at 100% flowering and yield per plant; canopy height at last harvest and fruit weight; canopy height at last harvest and fruit length; number of primary branches at 100% flowering and number of primary branches at last harvest; leaf length and leaf width; leaf length and number of fruits per plant; leaf length and yield per plant; leaf width and fruit width; fruit length and fruit weight; fruit width and fruit weight; number of fruits per plant and yield per plant. It was observed that selected plants of PC-1 cultivar showed a wider variation in several traits. Hence, selection would be positively approached for the characters and use in chilli improvement programmer through selection. Genetic improvement in present cultivar and maintenance of genetic purity is a need to encourage production and market potential of chilli cv. PC-1