DUS based morphological evaluation of genetic divergence in bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. grossum Sendt.)

Bell pepper is one of the most important Solanaceous vegetable crops in the world and it exhibits great variability in terms of fruit size, shape and colour which are the most important marketable traits in bell pepper alongwith other morphological traits. Hence, an attempt was made, in this study to evaluate the genetic diversity in 34 advanced breeding lines/genotypes of bell pepper, along with two common check varieties (California Wonder and Solan Bharpur) using 41 agro-morphological descriptors (24 qualitative and 17 quantitative) based on DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability). The present study was carried out during 2022-23 and 2023-24 at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. Significant variation was observed among various morphological traits with maximum diversity index value of 1.01 for fruit shape in longitudinal section. In terms of fruit yield per plant, it was discovered that the genotypes UHF-CAP-108, UHF-CAP-119, IIHR-131, UHF-CAP-106 and UHF-CAP-113 significantly outperformed the better check variety, Solan Bharpur, with desirable medium-sized, dark green, glossy and 3–4 lobed fruits. Principal component analysis (PCA) demonstrated that 83.08% of the total variance was contributed by the first six components, in which genotypes were characterized. Through multivariate analysis, the study effectively examined genetic divergence and classified the 34 advanced breeding lines/genotypes into five distinct clusters. The highest inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster III and cluster V, highlighting considerable diversity among the genotypes within these groups suggesting potential for broad enhancements in subsequent crop breeding programs.