Assessment of per se performance of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) hybrids TNAU Chilli Hybrid CO 1 and Arka Saanvi in Salem District of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Chilli is an important spice cum vegetable crop which is grown throughout India. India is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of chillies in the world. The important states of chilli production are Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. In Salem district, area under chilli cultivation is around 1100 ha in the year 2019–20. Among 20 blocks of Salem district, Kolathur block is well known for chilli cultivation in Salem District. Most of the farmers rely upon only the private chilli hybrids, for which they have to spend much more towards seed cost. An investigation was needed to assess the performance of high pungent chilli hybrids in Salem district. Hence, this investigation had been carried out to assess the per se performance of high pungent chilli hybrids in Salem district in the year 2021. An experiment was conducted as an on farm trial in five different locations of Salem district during Kharif season of 2021 in chilli using hybrids Arka Saanvi and TNAU Chilli Hybrid CO 1 with Sierra Hybrid of Mahyco, which (drought and powdery mildew tolerant hybrid with medium pungency fruits) as check hybrid. Regarding yield attribute, TNAU Chilli hybrid CO1 recorded highest yield per hectare (24t/ha) followed by Arka Saanvi (21t/ha) which might be due to the more number of fruits per plant in TNAU Chilli hybrid CO1 hybrid. Farmers preference as well as market preference in Salem District is more for TNAU Chilli Hybrid than Arka Saanvi because of its bigger size fruits with more number of fruits of high pungency. Regarding BC ratio, Arka Saanvi and Sierra recorded 2.50 and 1.79, respectively as against highest BC ratio of 2.71 in TNAU Chilli hybrid CO 1.