Evaluation of brinjal genotypes under low hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh

Twenty three variable genotypes of brinjal collected from different sources were evaluated on Research Farm of the Institute of Biotechnology and Environmental Science (Dr. Y.S. Parmar, University of Horticulture and Forestry), Neri, Hamirpur for two consecutive seasons during 2011–12. Since brinjal has its origin in India, a lot of variability exists in its shape, size and colour. The main objective of the experiment was to assess the performance of local accessions of brinjal vis a vis recommended varieties and identify promising genotypes/varieties suited to low hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh or find possibility of their involvement in future hybridization programme. Standard package of practices recommended by the University were followed. Observations were recorded on fruit length, breadth, fruit shape index, average fruit weight, yield per plant, number of fruits per plant, plant height and days to first picking. Maximum yield per plant (2076.53 g) was observed in Pant Samrat followed by Punjab Sadabahar (1883.08 g) and Neelima (1823.49 g). Highest fruit length (198.33 mm) was observed in LS-7 followed by LS-12 (172.50 mm). The highest number of fruits per plant (35.66) were recorded in Pant Samrat followed by Neelima (34.66). Average fruit weight among the genotypes ranged between 36.39 g to 190.50 g with maximum value in Hisar Shyamal followed by LS-3 (179.00 g). Least number of days to first picking were observed in LS-7 (68.00 days) followed by LS-1 (76.00 days).