Heterosis in sweet pepper hybrids

Abstract

This paper reports the results of evaluation of parental lines and the heterosis in F1 hybrids in a diallel cross of six sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivars: (1) Line P-14-8 (UFV); (2) BGH-18; (3) BGH 3041; (4) Morrón; (5) Amarelo Italiano; (6) Agronômico-10G. All 15 possible F1 hybrids (reciprocals excluded) were tested as well as their six parental lines, in a randomized complete block design with six replications, at Piracicaba, SP, Brazil, in 1985. Considerable heterosis was detected for total yield per plant (PTF), varying from 7.0% to 54.7%, for total number of fruit per plant (3.5% to 30.8%), for early yield/weight (9.1% to 109.2%) and for average weight per sampled fruit (9.3% to 52.9%). In general, F1 hybrids overcame Agronômico-10G, the check cultivar. However, all hybrids were not resistant to PVY. Among the parental lines, the cultivar 2 and 5 were the most productive.