S. H. Khan

Genetic divergence studies in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) under temperate conditions

The genetic divergence study was conducted in 64 genotypes of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) for 15 agro-morphological traits. Significant divergence existed among 64 chilli genotypes almost for all the traits. The genotypes under study were grouped into eight clusters as per Mahalanobis D2 (1928) analysis employing Tochers method with maximum number of genotypes in cluster I (37) followed by cluster IV (12), cluster II (6), cluster V (5) and rest of the clusters were monogenotypic. Maximum intercluster distance was observed between clusters II and VI (19369.21), while maximum intra-cluster distance was observed in cluster IV (4230.34). The per cent contribution towards the total genetic divergence revealed that plant spread (29.76%), seed yield per plant (25.69%), average fruit weight (17.41%), number of fruits per plant (10.22%), days to first flower (4.01%), fruit length (4.76%), number of branches per plant (4.51%) and fruit diameter (2.88%) were the major contributing characters towards total genetic divergence. The crosses between the genotypes from cluster VI with II and VIII and cluster VIII with those of I, III and IV are likely to exhibit high heterosis and produce recombinants with desired traits in segregating generations.

Combining Ability Studies for Yield and Yield Attributing Traits in Sweet Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

Ten diverse lines of sweet pepper were crossed in diallel manner to generate forty five crosses. The crosses and parents were evaluated in randomized complete block design during Kharif, 2010 at three different locations. The observations were recorded on various yield and yield attributing traits. Analysis of variance for combining ability revealed that variances due to GCA and SCA were significant for all the traits suggesting the importance of both types of variances in the inheritance of the traits. GCA and SCA also interacted significantly with the environments. The estimates of dominance variance were higher in magnitude than corresponding estimates of additive variance indicating the preponderance of non-additive gene action. None of the parents exhibited desirable gca effects for all the traits simultaneously. However, overall ranking of genotypes revealed that the parents SP-82, SP-640 and California Wonder exhibited significant desirable GCA effects for most of the traits. None of the crosses exhibited significant desirable SCA effects for all the traits simultaneously. However, the crosses SP-29 x SP-640, California Wonder x SP-82 and SP-82 x SP-614 were found to be desirable for most of the traits.