Screening Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. grossum Sendt.) Genotypes for Bacterial Wilt Resistance, Yield Parameters and Morphological Traits under Mid-hill Conditions of North-Western Himalayas

Bacterial wilt, caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, is a major soil borne disease of bell pepper in hot and humid growing areas around the world. The existing varieties of bell pepper are highly susceptible and not even a single commercial variety resistant to this disease has been developed yet and commercially available. The chemical control measures and manipulation of agronomical practices have been applied, but these are found ineffective against this disease, hence growing of resistant cultivars is the only way to overcome the yield losses. Along with resistance, varieties with early yielding ability and superior morphological characters fetch high prices in the market. Thus, an attempt was made to screen 43 bell pepper genotypes, including four checks, during the summer-rainy seasons of 2018 and 2019 using a Randomized Complete Block Design. The genotypes DPCBWR-14-39, DPCBWR-14-36, DPCBWR-14-2, DPCBWR-14-35 and DPCBWR-14-29 were identified as top yielders and exhibited a high level of resistance to bacterial wilt based on their mean values. Among these, DPCBWR-14-39 and DPCBWR-14-29 genotypes were earliest in flowering and picking. Besides, most of the resistant and top yielder genotypes were also green in fruit colour, pendent in fruit position, blocky in fruit shape, cordate at pedicel and sunken at blossom end. Therefore, from this study, it has been summarized that these genotypes could be utilized in hybridization programmes or could be directly released as a variety after preliminary and multi-location yield trials for commercial release.