Assessment of genetic variability in recombinant inbred lines of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.)

Study on genetic variability was conducted with 68 recombinant inbred lines ofchilli (Capsicum annuum L.) in Randomized Complete Block Design with two replicate.Eight quantitative characters,yield, number of pod/plant, pod length, pod diameter, pericarp thickness, plant height, canopy width and days to 50% flowering were taken into consideration. The analysis of variance and mean performance revealed significant variability among the inbred lines for the characters studied. Among the recombinant inbred lines, > 17t/ha of yield was recorded in MICH PL 35, MICH PL 37 and MICH PL 38 in both yala and maha season indicating the possibility of further testing to isolate as open pollinated chilli varieties. Mean performance of the inbred lines on tested characters was different depending on the season. Phenotypic variance showed higher value than genotypic variance indicating greater influence of environment for the quantitative characters. High genotypic coefficient of variance (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variance (PCV) were observed for the characters, yield, number of pods/plant, pod length, pod diameter and pericarp thickness indicating the high variability of these characters that offer good scope for selection of parents for the development of chilli hybrids. Moderate GCV and PCV values were observed in plant height and canopy width. The lowest GCV and PCV were observed for days to 50% flowering. High heritability, high genetic advance and high GCV were exhibited for pod characters indicating the presence of fixable additive genetic effect.