Vol. 11, Issue 8 (2022)

Author(s):
Moatoshi Jamir, Pankaj Kumar Shah, HP Chaturvedi and Joyashree Baruah

Abstract:
Study on genetic variability and diversity was conducted for two consecutive years with 11Naga King chilli (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) genotypes of Nagaland at the research farm of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Nagaland University, SASRD, India during February-October 2018-2019. Sixteen quantitative characters viz. days to first flowering, plant height (cm), days to 50 percent fruiting, number of fruits per plant, fresh fruit weight (g), fruit length (cm), fruit width (cm), number of fruits per cluster, number of seeds per fruit, dry fruit weight (g), 1000 seed weight (g), fruit yield per plant (g), beta-carotene (mg per 100g), ascorbic acid (mg per 100g), moisture content (percentage) and capsaicin content (mg per 100g) were taken into consideration. The analysis of variance revealed considerable variability among the genotypes for the character studied. Cluster analysis was used for grouping of 11 chilli genotypes and was grouped into five clusters. Cluster 1 has 7 genotypes and cluster 2, cluster 3, cluster 4 and cluster 5 has one genotype each. High genetic divergence between Cluster I and II were revealed indicating wide genetic diversity between these two clusters. The maximum relative contribution to the total divergence was made by capsaicin content, ascorbic acid and number of fruits per cluster. The present experimental findings will be immensely helpful in C. chinense germplasm conservation and in trait specific breeding programmer.