MSc

The project entitled “Evaluation of genotypes for yield and resistance to leaf curl in bird chilli (Capsicum frutescens L.)" was under taken with an objective to identify high yielding genotypes of bird chilli with resistance to leaf curl. The data for the investigation were collected from two field experiments.
In experiment I, 78 accessions of bird chilli collected from different parts of Kerala were evaluated in the field for yield and resistance to leaf curl. The accession A4 (Vandithadam-I ) showed highest mean values with respect to number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, fruit length, plant height and lowest number of white flies per plant and categorised as tolerant to leaf curl. The accession A50 (Kumarapuram-I) showed highest mean values for number of fruits per plant, average fruit length, average fruit width and fruit yield per plant and it had zero vulnerability index i.e. resistance to leaf curl. The number of thrips per leaf and number of mites per leaf were lowest for accessions A28 (Kottakkal-IV) and A38 (Palakkad-I) respectively.
The genetic divergence among 78 genotypes, in experiment I was studied and the genotypes were grouped into nine clusters. Cluster II accommodated maximum number of genotypes (24) followed by cluster IV with 13 genotypes, cluster I with 11 genotypes, cluster V with 9 genotypes, cluster IX with 8 genotypes, cluster VI with 7 genotypes, cluster VII with 3 genotypes, cluster VIII with 2 genotypes and cluster III with 1 genotype. Cluster VIII and cluster IX were found to be superior to the other clusters with respect to the desirable characters. It was observed that there was no close correspondence between geographical distribution and genetic divergence.
In experiment II, 10 accessions of bird chilli (Capsicum frutescens L.) selected from experiment I, were studied. These genotypes showed significant difference for all the biometric characters. They all showed high heritability coupled with high genetic advance except for number of days to first flowering and average fruit length for which the genetic advance was low and moderate respectively. The maximum values for phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) were recorded for incidence of leaf curl disease and fruit yield per plant and the minimum values were for number of days to first flowering.
High positive correlation was recorded for fruit yield per plant with individual fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, plant height, number of secondary branches, average fruit width, number of primary branches, average fruit length and number of days to first flowering. Path coefficient analysis revealed that individual fruit weight and number of fruits per plant had high positive direct effect on fruit yield per plant. Hence, through selection for these characters yield can be improved. The genotype T5 (Kumarapuram-I) was ranked first with respect to yield and resistance to leaf curl and this can be developed as a superior bird chilli variety.