SELECTION TRAITS FOR CHILI PEPPER DROUGHT TOLERANCE AT GERMINATION STAGE USING POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL 6000 AND DIVERSITY AMONG 22 CHILI PEPPER GENOTYPES

Abstract

There is limited information regarding the tolerance of chili varieties to drought in Indonesia. Evaluation of chili drought tolerance at the germination stage using osmotic polyethylene glycol (PEG) is an alternative way to conduct rapid screening in order to assemble drought-tolerant varieties. Twenty two diverse genotypes of chili were evaluated for germination percentage, seed vigour index, root length, shoot length, root-to-shoot length ratio, number of lateral roots, seedling length, root dry weight, shoot dry weight, seedling dry weight, and drought sensitivity index for each variable under normal and drought conditions at laboratory. Considerable genotypic and phenotypic variation was observed for all the characters. Shoot length, root length, root to shoot length ratio, seedling length, shoot dry weight, and percentage of germination can be used as selection character to estimate the drought tolerance of chilli genotypes in the germination stage. The tolerance level of the 22 chilli genotypes varied against drought. Among the 22 genotypes, nine are tolerant, while eleven are moderate and two genotypes are sensitive to drought.

Keywords

• capsicum annuum
• drought tolerance
• poly ethylene glycol
• rapid screening