Genetic variability and diversity study on Bhot jolokia (Capsicum chinense Jacq)

Abstract

Thirty Bhot jolokia (Capsicum chinense Jacq) accessions from three different states of north east region were evaluated in a thorough field exploration with enough geographical representation to assess genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), heritability (h2%) and genetic advance (GA). Higher GCV and PCV were observed for plant height, fruits per plant, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit width and number of seeds per fruit. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance observed for these characters imply the potential for crop improvement through selection. Using the SPSS (version 13.0) software, cluster analysis was performed based on maximum and minimum Euclidian dissimilarity distances which separate the thirty accessions of C. chinense into six distinct clusters with distinct morphological variation between the clusters.