Evaluation of pepper genotypes for disease tolerance in southwest Nigeria

Hitherto there has been a knowledge gap on disease tolerant high yielding pepper cultivars in southwest Nigeria. Consequently for two years, a trial was conducted at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti to evaluate some improved exotic genotypes compared with local land races. The trial was laid out in a randomized complete block design and replicated thrice. Among rhombus fruit shaped (RODO), long cayenne (SOMBO) and bell fruit shaped (TATTASSAI) pepper genotypes, there were significant differences (P<0.05) in vegetative growth and fruit yield but none in the stem girth of ‘Sombo’ and ‘Tattassai’ pepper genotypes. Fruit yield ranged between 1.9 to 4.49 t ha^-1, 3.8 to 5.8 t ha^-1 and 0.02 to 2.38 t ha^-1 in RODO, TATTASSAI and SOMBO genotypes, respectively. Prevalence of diseases was in the order of viral diseases, Cercospora leaf spot, anthracnose, bacteria soft rot and Phytophthora fruit rot. Disease severity varied among genotypes for all isolated pathogens. All diseases negatively correlated with total fruit yield. The SOMBO genotype, ‘NHVI-A’, TATTASSAI genotype (‘Eppo (S7G)’) and RODO (‘Pimenta BRS Mari’) genotype were the most promising with regards to yield and disease tolerance.