Principal Component Analysis of Chilli (Capsicum annum L.) Genotypes for Quality Traits under Temperate Condition of Kashmir Valley

The PCA of the chilli parents and crosses revealed that the ive traits have been loaded on irst two and three components accounting for about 78.92% and 72.48% variance in chilli parents and crosses respectively.The Eigen values ranged from 2.60 for irst PC to 1.34 for second PC for chilli parents and 1.49 for irst PC to 1.03 for third PC for the chilli crosses.Concerning chilli parents the irst two principal components with eigen values greater than 1 were found to contribute 52.10% and 26.82% of variance respectively, explaining a cumulative variation of 72.98% andin case of the chilli crosses the irst three principal components with eigen values greater than 1 were found to contribute 29.92%, 21.91% and 20.65% of variance respectively, explaining a cumulative variation of 72.48%.The results of the principal component analysis employed in the study have demonstrated the high degree of genetic variation and the traits contributing to the variance, therefore this population panel can be used for trait development in breeding programs for the traits contributing to major variation.