Variability analysis in genotypes of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) for yield and yield related traits

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is the world’s major spice crop. India faces tough competition from other black pepper-producing countries in both production volume and productivity. There is a pressing need to enhance production per unit area by developing improved varieties with superior quality attributes. Ten genotypes of black pepper developed by different centers of the All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Spices were evaluated. The relationships between dry berry yield and yield-related traits in black pepper were analyzed. Data were collected on five quantitative traits, namely spike length (cm), number of berries per spike, fresh berry yield per plant (kg), dry berry yield per plant (kg) and dry recovery (%) during 2022-23. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences for all characters. Highest genotypic coefficient of variation and phenotypic coefficient of variation were observed for the number of berries per spike, spike length and dry berry yield per plant. Lowest values of genotypic coefficient of variation and phenotypic co-efficient of variation were noted for dry recovery. Genotypes exhibited high heritability and genetic improvement over the mean for the number of berries per spike and spike length. This suggests that additive gene effects influence the expression of these traits. Yield of dry berries per plant showed a very strong correlation with fresh berry yield, dry recovery and the number of berries per spike, both at the phenotypic and genotypic levels. In the path analysis, yield of fresh berries, dry recovery percentage and the number of berries per spike exhibited strong positive direct and indirect effects on the yield of dry berries. Genotype PRS 161 exhibited superior performance in terms of morphological traits, yield and yield-related characteristics, followed by SV 11 among the various genotypes analyzed. High yielding genotypes identified in this study can be considered for developing new varieties and can also be utilized in future breeding programs.