Heterosis and reciprocal hybrid differences in bacterial wilt resistant intraspecific hybrids of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. Grossum) under north western himalayan conditions of india

Heterosis breeding is considered a keystone practice in plant breeding aimed at introgressing into a cultivar, superior genetic elements necessary for escalating yield, quality, and protection against abiotic and biotic stresses. Therefore, the present research work was designed to evaluate the heterotic potential of bacterial wilt resistant lines of bell pepper, to identify superior hybrids for fruit yield and quality. Both positive and negative heterosis was encountered among the F₁ hybrids. Maximum heterosis was obtained for number of marketable fruits/plant and marketable fruit yield/plant. Significant reciprocal differences were observed for all characters except fruit width and harvest duration thus revealing the importance of correct direction of crossing. Five crosses viz., DPBWRC-6-1 x EC-464115, DPBWRC-6-1 x EC-464107, DPBWRC-1 x EC-464115, DPBWRC-39 x DPBWRC-6-1 and DPBWRC-6-1 x DPBWRC-29 were identified as the potential crosses that can be released as hybrids after field testing as well as utilized in future breeding programmes.