Author/Authors :
مساريرمبي، ميشل نويسنده Horiculture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Swaziland, P.O. Luyengo M205, Swaziland Masarirambi, Michael T. , ندادزونگيرا، ريان نويسنده Crop Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box MP167, Mt Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe Ndadzungira, Ryan C. , ماشيگايدز، ارنولد نويسنده Food Science and Post-harvest Technology Department, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Private Bag 7724, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe Mashigaidze, Arnold B. , ماساريرامبي، تاريرو نويسنده Agritex, Seke District, P O Box 4100, Harare, Zimbabwe Masarirambi, Tariro
Abstract :
There are several varieties and cultivars of pepper developed in various regions of the world yet their performance in new regions remains untested. The objective of this study was to test the agronomic performance of seven pepper cultivars from the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Centre. Cultivars were grown at the field plots of Crop Science Department field plots. The pepper cultivar treatments were laid down in a randomized complete block design and replicated three times. Two harvests were carried out at the physiologically mature green stage. There were significant (P < 0.05) differences among the seven tested cultivars in growth parameters, yield and disease resistance among the seven pepper cultivars tested. Cultivar ISPN2 #4 had the highest plant height (25.66 cm) while cultivar ISPN2 #9 had the least plant height (13.38 cm). Cultivar ISPN2#1 had significantly the highest yield of 10.22 tha-1 and the least yielding was ISPN2#3 with a yield of 2.3 tha-1. Fruit characteristics varied among cultivars. Cultivar ISPN2#1 produced the highest number of fruits and the highest yield per plot. It also showed 100% resistance to powdery mildew while cultivar ISPN2#4 had the least resistance (8.3%) to the disease. Cultivar ISPN2#1 was also the most resistant to viral infection with cultivars ISPN2#2, ISPN2#4 and ISPN2#5 being most susceptible to viral infection. In terms of evaluation of relative performance cultivar ISPN2#1 was the best among the seven tested cultivars with the highest mean yield and greatest resistance to two diseases of powdery mildew and viral.
