Enhancing growth, yield, and nutritional value of Capsicum Annuum: Evaluating micronutrient efficiency and varietal performance

This study investigates the effects of chili variety, micronutrient application efficiency, and their interaction on the growth, yield, and quality attributes of chili ( Capsicum spp. ) over two consecutive years. The experiment was conducted in a split-plot design with three replications. Three chili varieties (V1=Sikarpuri, V2=Sakata-653, V3=Picnic) and three micronutrient application methods (M1: Broadcasting, M2: Spraying, M3: 50 % Broadcasting + 50 % Spraying) and their interactions were examined. For this, the variety was assigned in the main plot and micronutrients in the sub-plot. The results revealed that the interaction of variety and micronutrient application efficiency in V3M3 treatment demonstrated significant differences for growth characteristics, including increased plant height, number of leaves, earlier flowering, and higher fruit count. Yield parameters such as fruit length, diameter, fresh weight, dry weight, and seed weight were significantly enhanced by the interaction of variety and micronutrient application efficiency. The highest fruit length (13.25 cm) and seed weight (0.39 g) were observed in V3M3 treatments. Fresh fruit weight per plant peaked at 193.37 g in V3M3, while the highest fresh fruit yield per hectare (9.72 t/ha) was obtained from the same treatment. V3M3 produced the highest vitamin C (96.101 mg/100 g) and sugar content (1.624 %). The interaction of V3M3 yielded the highest protein content (1.085 %) and ash percentage (1.58 %). Conversely, the lowest quality values were observed in the V2M1 and V1M1 combinations. These results imply that the right mix of micronutrient treatments and variety increased growth, yield, and quality characteristics, offering stakeholders and policymakers important information for better chili farming practices. • Different varieties found different response on micronutrient application efficiency. • Picnic variety with 50 % broadcasting +50 % spraying of micronutrients in V3M3 treatment outperformed over other treatments. • The fruit yield per plant (kg) and overall fruit yield (t/ha) enhanced by V3M3 treatment. • V3M3 plants exhibited the highest levels of vitamin C, sugar content, protein content as well as overall quality of chili.