Morphological characterization and genetic variability of Bird’s Eye chilli – an underutilized spice crop

Abstract

Thirty-five genotypes of Capsicum frutescence collected from wild were evaluated during 2018-2019. The morphological characterization was done as per the specifications of International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) for hot peppers. Analysis of variance for various growth and yield characters were statistically tested. Higher level of GCV and PCV (>20%) was observed for number of primary branches per plant, weight of seeds per fruit, fruit yield per plant, fresh and dry weight of ten fruits, fruit width, number of seeds per fruit, width and length of the fruit stalk and fruit length. Most of the characters showed very high heritability (>90%) coupled with high GAM (>40%). Higher variability was found in the genotypes. High heritability coupled with high GAM was noticed for most of the yield traits indicated that the selection for these traits will be effective.