Yield and yield component association of some capsicum genotypes

The experiment was conducted in humid agro ecological zone of Calabar, Nigeria, to evaluate the yield performance and the association between yield and yield related components of some capsicum genotypes which include; Bird pepper(Capsicum annuumvar. aviculare), Habanero pepper(Capsicum chinense), Thai pepper(Capsicum annuum var.glabriusculum),Tabasco pepper(Capsicum frutescens) and Bell pepper(Capsicum annuum. Var.accuminatum). Randomized complete block design was used for the experiment, planted in all three replications. The result showed that all the genotypes of pepper used were significantly different (P = O.O 5) in plant height, number of branches, fruit length, fruit breadth, number of fruit per plant and total fruit yield but no significant differences was observed in days to 50% flowering and leaf area. The cultivar Tabasco pepper gave the highest yield of 2426.66 kg/ha followed by bird pepper with a total yield of 2239.99 kg/ha while the cultivar Hebanero pepper gave yield of 1907 kg/ha. The least yield was recorded on Thai pepper with 1520Kg/ha and bell pepper gave 1680 kg/ha. The linear correlation analysis of the yield and yield related component revealed that days to 50% flowering (r = 0.613), fruit length (r =0.392), number of branches (r = 0.913), number of fruits per plant (r = 0.422) and plant height (r = 0.424) showed positive relationship with fruit yield. The yield component with positive and significant correlation can be used as selection indices for the improvement of capsicum species KEYWORDS : Components, Correlation, Genotypes, Pepper, Yield.