Assessment of genetic variability in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) for yield and its attributing traits under Chhattisgarh plains

Introduction

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is an important tropical and subtropical spice crop and one of the most popular vegetables in India (Bahurupe et al., 2013) [4] . Originating from the tropical and humid zones of Central and South America, it belongs to the family Solanaceae with a diploid chromosome number 2n=2x=24. It is a branched, herbaceous plant, grown as an annual or perennial, and is predominantly cross-pollinated, attaining a height of 0.5-1.5 m. The flowers are mostly solitary and off-white, while the fruits are berries that turn green, yellow, orange or red upon ripening. Chilli, also called hot pepper, was introduced into India from Brazil by the Portuguese in the 16 th century. The genus Capsicum comprises five domesticated species (C. annuum, C. frutescens, C. chinense, C. pubescens, and C. baccatum), of which C. annuum is the most widely cultivated worldwide. More than 400 varieties of chillies are reported globally, with "Naga Jolokia/Bhoot Jolokia," the world's hottest chilli, cultivated in Tezpur, Assam. Chillies are consumed as vegetables, spices, condiments, sauces, and pickles and are valued for their nutritional and medicinal properties. They are rich in vitamins A, C, and E and contain carotenoids, volatile oils, fatty oils, rutin, and the pungent alkaloid capsaicin, which is concentrated in the placenta of fruits and has therapeutic applications in allopathic and Ayurvedic medicine (Rohini and Lakshmanan, 2017) [14] . Capsanthin imparts the bright red colour, while oleoresins are widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries (Maurya et al., 2017) [10] . Per 100 g of chilli fruit, the nutritional profile includes moisture (87.7 g), protein (2.9 g), riboflavin (0.39 g), vitamin C (143.7 µg), ascorbic acid (111.07 g), vitamin A (292.04 mg), vitamin K (14 µg), vitamin E (0.69 mg), oxalic acid (967 mg), along with vitamin P (rutin), which reduces platelet aggregation and improves blood circulation. Globally, chilli production is 41.57 lakh tonnes, with India leading as the top producer and exporter, followed by China, Thailand, Ethiopia, and Indonesia. In India, chilli is cultivated mainly in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh, covering 4,12,970 ha with a production of 44,95,730 tonnes and productivity of 10.89 t/ha (Anon., 2023) [2] . In Chhattisgarh, chilli occupies 33,788 ha with production of 2,38,581 tonnes and productivity of 8.42 t/ha, mainly in Korba, Bilaspur, Raipur, Bastar, Kabirdham, and Durg districts. Yield is a complex trait influenced by genetic and environmental interactions, necessitating studies on genetic variability, heritability, and path coefficient analysis to identify high-yielding genotypes. Variability forms the basis for selection, heritability estimates help determine the proportion of genetic influence, and path analysis partitions correlation into direct and indirect effects (Dewey and Lu, 1959) [6] , thereby guiding breeders in improving yield and quality in chilli.

Materials and Methods

The Experiment was conducted at the Horticultural Research cum instructional Farm, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.) During Rabi Season 2024.

The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Thirty -one genotypes of chilli below were used as experimental material crop was grown in randomized block design with three replications. The plot size of each plot was 3.6 m x 3.0 m. The distance between two block and plot were 1m and 0.5 m respectively. Five competitive plants were selected randomly from each plot to recorded observation on various characters. The average value of each character was calculated on the basis of five plants for each genotype in every replication. The parameters considered for the plant height (cm), number of primary branches, days to first flowering, days to 50% flowering, Days to first picking, Total no. of picking, Days to last picking, fruit length (cm), fruit girth (cm), Fresh weight of fruit (g), Number of fruits per plant, Fruit weight per plant (g), Fruit yield per plot (kg) and Fruit yield per ha (q/ha).

Statistical Analysis

Analysis of variance was carried out as per the procedure given by Panse and Sukhatme (1985) [12] . The genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation were computed as per Burton and Devane (1953) [5] and categorized as per while the heritability in broad sense and genetic advance was calculated as per Allard (1960) [1] and categorized as per Johnson et al. (1955) [7] .

Results and Discussion

The result of analysis of variance for all the characters under study is presented in Table 2. Analysis of variance permits estimation of phenotypic, genotypic and environmental variation for various quantitative traits. Provide the information on variance for fruit yield and its contributing traits in hot pepper. Analysis of variance revealed that mean sum of squares due to genotypes was found to be highly significant for all characters i.e., plant height (58.45), number of primary branches ( [17] , Singh et al. (2017) [18] , Negi and Sharma (2019) [11] .

Mean performance of genotypes for different traits

The observation was taken from uniform size randomly tagged five plants from each genotype in all the three replications for fruit yield and its contributing characters which were used for calculating the mean performance. Data from randomly selected five plants were averaged for each genotype. Data on mean performance of fruit yield and it's contributing characters are presented in Table 3.

Significantly wide variation was observed for plant height. Plant height varied from 43.45 cm (2024/CHIVAR-5) to cm (2023/CHIVAR-2). The genotype 2023/CHIVAR-2 recorded the maximum plant height (65.73 cm) followed by 2023/CHIVAR-9 (60.03 cm) and 2023/CHIVAR-4 (58.42 cm), whereas the minimum plant height was recorded in 2024/CHIVAR-5 (43.45 cm) followed by 2024/CHIVAR-6 (45.51 cm).

Number of primary branches per plant

The number of primary branches per plant ranged from 5.44 (2022/CHIVAR-7) to 8.35 (2022/CHIVAR-4). Genotypes 2022/CHIVAR-4 was recorded maximum number of primary branches (8.35) which was at par with 2023/CHIVAR-11 (8.25), 2023/CHIVAR-4 (8.05) and 2023/CHIVAR-7 (8.03). whereas minimum number of primary branches was found in 2022/CHIVAR-7 (5.44).

Days to first flowering

The results on days to first flowering revealed presence of significant variation among the tested genotypes. Days

Total number of pickings

The total number of pickings ranged from 5.33 to 7.33 with an overall mean of 6.79. Genotype 2023/CHIVAR-4 (7.35) was recorded for maximum total number of pickings which at par with 2024/CHIVAR-1 (7.00), 2024/CHIVAR-2 (6.67), 2024/CHIVAR-3 (7.33)

Conclusion

The mean sum of square due to treatment was shown to be significant for all the characters using analysis of variance which indicating that the presence of sufficient variability in the population. The mean performance for fruit yield per hectare (q) genotype 2023/CHIVAR-4 was superior among all the genotypes.

References

1. Bahurupe JV, Sakhare SB, Kulwal PL, Akhare AA, Pawar BD. Genetic diversity analysis in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) using RAPD markers. An International Quarterly Journal of Life Science. 2013;8(3):915-918.
2. Burton GW, Devane EH. Estimating the heritability in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) from replicated clonal material. Agronomy Journal. 1953;45:478-481.
3. Dewey DR, Lu KH. A correlation and path coefficient analysis of components of crested wheat grass seed production. Agronomy Journal. 1959;51:515-521.
4. Johnson HW, Robinson HF, Comstock RE. Genotypic and phenotypic correlation in soybean and their implication in selection. Agronomy Journal. 1955;47:477-483.
5. Kumari V, Singh J, Sharma D, Mishra S. Evaluation of chilli genotypes for growth and fruit yield attributing traits under Chhattisgarh Plain conditions. Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci. 2017;6(2):3478-3483.
6. Mamatha A, Devaraju HM, Premchandra U. Performance of chilli genotypes for growth and yield attributing traits under hill zone of Karnataka. Environment & Ecology. 2016;35(38):2165-2170.
7. Maurya AML, Kushwaha SK, Maurya G, Panchbhaiya A. Estimation of per se performance of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes for yield and quality traits. J Pharmacognosy Phytochemistry. 2017;6(1):333-335.
8. Negi PS, Sharma A. Studies on variability, correlation and path analysis in red ripe chilli genotypes. International Journal Current Microbiology & Applied Sciences. 2019;8(4):1604-1612.
9. Panse VG, Sukhatme PV. Statistical Methods for Agricultural Workers. Indian Council of Agricultural Research Publication; 1985. p. 87-89.
10. Patel KL, Sarnaik DA, Sharma D, Mehta N. Genetic variability studies in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.). Plant Development Science. 2014;6(2):321-384.
11. Rohini N, Lakshmanan V, Saraladevi D, Jhon A, Joe A. Heterobeltiosis and genetic assortive mating for yield and its component characters in hot pepper (Capsicum annuum var. annuum). International Journal of Plant & Soil Science. 2017;14(5):1-12.
12. Sahu L, Trivedi J, Sharma D. Genetic variability, heritability and divergence analysis in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.). Plant Archives. 2016;16(1):445-448.
13. Sandeep DP, Bidari BI, Shashidhara GB, Hanamashetti SI. Evaluation of chilli genotypes for Ghataprabha left bank command area in Karnataka. The Asian Journal of Horticulture. 2008;3(2):356-360.
14. Sharma VK, Semwal CS, Uniyal SP. Genetic variability and character association analysis in bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). Journal of Horticulture Forestry. 2010;2(3):58-65.
15. Singh P, Jain PK, Sharma A. Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes. International Journal Current Microbial & Applied Science. 2017;6(9):2704-2709.
16. Ukkund KM, Madalageri MB, Patil MP, Mulage R, Kotikal YK. Variability studies in green chilli International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research https://www.biochemjournal.com (Capsicum annuum L.). Karnataka Journal of Agriculture Science. 2007;20(1):102-104.
17. Yatagiri N, Telugu RK, Shafiqurrahman M, Sanap PB. Evaluation of chilli genotypes for yield attributing and incidence of leaf curl and white fly traits in coastal Maharashtra, India. International Journal Current Microbiology and Applied Science. 2017;6(9):31403148.