ABSTRACT: Chilli is an important spice cum vegetable crop which is grown throughout India. India is the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of chillies in the world. The important states of chilli production are Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. In Salem district, area under chilli cultivation is around 1089 ha in the year 2013-14. Among 20 blocks of Salem district, Kolathur block is well known for chilli cultivation in Salem District. An investigation is needed to assess the performance of high pungent chilli hybrids in Salem district. Hence, this investigation had been carried out to assess the per se performance of high pungent chilli hybrids in Salem district. A field experiment was conducted as an on farm trial in five different locations of Salem district during Kharif season of 2017 in chilli using hybrids Arka Harita and TNAU Chilli Hybrid CO 1 with Sierra Hybrid of Mahyco (drought and powdery mildew tolerant hybrid with medium pungency fruits of more than 10 cm long and diameter of 1.1 to 1.3 cm) as check hybrid. Arka Harita showed profuse flowering and continuous fruit setting character with tolerance to powdery mildew and TNAU Chilli Hybrid CO 1 is moderately resistant to fruit rot disease. Both are high pungent high yielding hybrids. The results showed that TNAU chilli hybrid CO 1 recorded highest individual fruit weight of 30g followed by Arka Harita with individual fruit weight of 28g. The check hybrid Sierra recorded lesser fruit weight of 23g. Regarding yield attribute, Arka Harita recorded highest yield per hectare (28.2t/ha) followed by TNAU Chilli Hybrid CO1 (26t/ha) which might be due to the more number of fruits per plant in Arka Harita hybrid. Regarding BC ratio, Arka Harita recorded 2.13 as against 1.97 in TNAU Chilli hybrid CO 1. Least BC ratio was recorded in the private hybrid Sierra in Salem District.

Keywords—Chilli, Capsicum annuum, hybrids, performance, on farm trial

| DOI: 10.17148/IARJSET.2021.8880