Evaluation of Green Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Cultivars for Growth Rate, Biomass Partitioning and Yield Potential

Green pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is one of the exotic vegetable fruits gaining popularity in Lesotho because of its aroma, pungency, sweetness and impressive health benefits. Most of the vegetable farmers dwelling in urban areas produce limited amounts sufficient to meet their household needs and sell small quantities of surplus in the neighborhood. As a result, a low supply always fails to meet market demand. The main objectives of the study were to i) determine the growth rate of six green pepper cultivars during vegetative and reproductive phases, ii) determine biomass partitioning among green pepper cultivars, iii) identify high-yielding green pepper cultivars that can contribute significantly to domestic market, iv) estimate correlation coefficients among characters used for growth rate. The study was conducted at The National University of Lesotho, which is domiciled at Roma Valley in the Maseru district. Treatments consisted of six cultivars of green peppers laid-out using a randomized complete block design with three replications under the shade-net structure. The dimensions of main plot were 19m length x 8m width, while the sub-plot was 3m x 2m length and width, respectively. Total number of sub-plots was 15, each plot had 2 rows, and each row had 8 plants. The inter-row and intra- row spacing was 100 cm and 75 cm, respectively. Data were generated throughout the growing period on growth rate, biomass partitioning, yield and yield components. Parameters measured were plant height, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, leaf length and width per plant, stem girth, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit weight, yield per plant, yield per plot and per cultivar. Results revealed that Citrine and star 6653 outperformed the others in growth rate but produced lower yield. Autry followed with many branches, leaves area and taller stem but still reduced low yield. Jupiter yielded higher with fewer, narrower leaves and a larger number of fruits. California Wonder had a high yield with a larger number of fruits and higher weight. Differences in the performance of green pepper cultivars was solely attributed to unique genetic constitution of each cultivar.