Genetic variability and inter-relationship studies among growth, yield and quality parameters in Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.)

Abstract

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is probably one of the commercial and important vegetable crop after tomato at the global level. In India, Chilli is cultivated on an area of 3.76 lakh hectares with a production of 3.78 lakh tonnes and productivity of 10.02 tonnes per hectare (NHB, 2019). Since the productivity of the crop is low there is a demand for development of new varieties and hybrids with high productivity. Genetic divergence and extent of genetic variability are important for the genetic improvement of any crop in the germplasm stock. Magnitude of genetic variability present in the germplasm is always proportional to the improvement in any crop. Greater the chances of desirable genotypes and cultivars, greater is the variability in the population. Screening of available germplasm helps to estimate the variation and diversity and also to classify and select superior parents for hybridization purposes. The degree of genetic divergence can be calculated by using the Multivariate Analysis from Mahalanobis D2, which is as an important method for determining the relative contribution of different characters to total divergence in crops that are often cross-pollinated.