Welcome to the 21st International Pepper Conference

32012 INTERNATIONAL PEPPER PROCEEDINGS

Welcome to the 21st International Pepper Conference

For the past 40 years the International Pepper Conference has been held every other year in major pepper producing regions attracting prominent pepper research scientists, breeders, horticulturists, pathologists, entomologists, geneticists, physiologists, and virologists, in addition to extension agents, seed and chemical company representatives, major processors, growers, and chile aficionados from around the world providing a venue for the exchange of informa-tion and knowledge on Capsicum spp.

In recent years, interest and demand for peppers has increased dramatically worldwide and peppers have achieved major economic significance in the global market.

The conference has come a long way since Dr. Ben Villalon and Dr. Tom Zitter first tossed around the idea of holding a meeting to draw together pepper researchers for the exchange of information and germplasm in 1972 and has emerged as the premier venue for the dis-semination and exchange of information on Capsicum.

This year the organizing committee would like to extend a warm Florida welcome to our colleagues from around the globe to the 21st International Pepper conference in Naples, Florida. We feel confident that we have been successful in putting together a program that you will find informative, challenging and exciting. The diversity of papers and poster being presented at this conference and the wide array of presenters will bring together the latest advances in the field and will hopefully provide something for everyone in attendance.

We know from past workshops that in addition to the exchange of information and ideas, the development of personal friendships and collaborative efforts between colleagues from around the world working on common issues is equally important.

For this reason, you will note that we have included some down time between formal sessions so both new and old friends will have plenty of time to get acquainted and trade ideas and innovations. Although some of the participants have been active with the pepper conference from the beginning, they remain willing to share and welcome new ideas and collaborators into their midst and we are sure you will want to meet and get acquainted with them. Some of us are relative new comers but we trust that you will find that this is a close and sharing community of friends with a common interest that connects one and all.

In addition to the welcoming reception, we have planned group lunches, a Monday night dinner in the Orchid Ballroom and a Tuesday evening closing dinner buffet on the sunset deck, which will give us all the opportunity to relax away from the structure of the meeting place and enjoy great food and drink. Monday will feature a full day of scientific presentations, while Tuesday will consist of an all-day tour of local industry research facilities and commercial pepper production South Florida style.

As you know, Florida is major tourist destination and we hope will find the time to visit some of the attractions like Disney, Universal Studios, and Sea World as well as see the real Florida and its great natural beauty.

We are grateful to all of our many and generous sponsors, who have joined in supporting this conference. I would also like to thank the committee members, speakers and poster presenters for enriching the program. A sincere thanks is also due to Beth Miller-Tipton and her staff at the UF/IFAS Office of Conferences and Institutes as they have left no stone unturned in making sure that our conference is not only successful, but will be a fun time for everyone as well.

I am glad you were able to attend and hope you have an enjoyable and productive time.

Sincerely,

Gene McAvoyConference Organizer

2012 INTERNATIONAL PEPPER PROCEEDINGS4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome Letter 3

Planning Committee 5

Sponsor Recognition 5

Keynote Speaker 6

Program Agenda 7

Poster Directory 12

Conference Abstracts 18

Notes 53


TABLE OF CONTENTS

PLANNINg COMMITTEE Mr. Roberto Cordero Seminis Seed, [email protected]

Mr. Cory Dombrowski Sakata Seed, [email protected]

Dr. Aparna Gazula UF/IFASAlachuaCountyExtension,[email protected]

Dr. Don Maynard UF/IFASGCREC,[email protected]

Mr. Gene McAvoy, Conference Chair UF/IFASHendryCountyExtension,[email protected]

Dr. Tom Mueller Harris Moran Seed, [email protected] Dr. Monica Ozores-Hampton UF/IFASSWFREC,[email protected]

Ms. Crystal Snodgrass UF/IFASManateeCountyExtension,[email protected]

Dr. Phil Stansly UF/IFASSWFREC,[email protected]

Mr. Cam Sutherland Enza Zaden, [email protected]

Dr. Gary Vallad UF/IFASGCREC,[email protected]

Ms. Alicia Whidden UF/IFASHillsboroughCountyExtension,[email protected]

Mr. Ted Winsberg Green Cay Farms, [email protected]

HABANERO LEVEL SPONSORS: Bedner’s Farm Fresh MarketEnza ZadenSeminisSyngenta

CAYENNE LEVEL SPONSORS:ArkemaBayer Crop ScienceChemical Dynamics, Inc.EtgarNichino AmericaThomas Produce Company

A Special Thank You to Our Conference Sponsors

SERRANO LEVEL SPONSORS:Amvac Chemical CorporationC W Hendricks Farms, Inc.Glades Crop Care, Inc.Gowan – The Go To CompanyIsagro USASakata SeedTriEst Ag Group, Inc.University of Florida / IFAS

52012 INTERNATIONAL PEPPER PROCEEDINgS


Tom conducts applied research and extension in plant pathol-ogy to identify methods of crop protection and disease man-agement, and makes disease control recommendations for vegetables.

“ “

Dr. Thomas Zitter

Dr. Zitter, Professor of Plant Pathology at Cornell University will be giving a keynote address titled “Pepper Diseases through the Years: A Review”. Tom conducts applied re-search and extension in plant pathology to identify methods of crop protection and dis-ease management, and makes disease con-trol recommendations for vegetables. He has a BS degree in Botany and a PhD in Plant Pathology, both from Michigan State Uni-versity. Upon graduation he became a plant pathologist at the University of Florida, Ev-erglades Experiment Station in Belle Glade, for 11 years. He has been at Cornell since 1979. His extension responsibil-ities at Cornell include management and control of fresh market vegetable crop diseases; education of vegetable growers, agribusiness and extension field staff on crop disease biology, identification, management, scouting and control; and development and testing of crop IPM strategies for vegeta-ble farms. His research responsibilities include biology, epidemiology and management of soilborne and foliar diseases of potato, tomato, pepper and cucurbits; identification and incorporation of genes for disease resistance; identification of novel methods of control, and integrating these methods into effective crop production practices.Tom is also responsible for disease control recommendations (guidelines) for most fresh market vegetable crops, and he developed and maintains VegetableMDOnline, a web site which is used worldwide with more than 5 million hits annually.


SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012

4:00pm-6:00pm POSTER PRESENTERS SET-UP DISPLAYS - Orchid Ballroom 36:00pm-8:00pm WELCOME NETWORKING SOCIAL IN POSTER DISPLAY AREA – Orchid Ballroom FOYER7:00pm-9:00pm USDA Capsicum Crop Germplasm Committee Meeting – Acacia 1-3 (for committee members only)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2012

7:00am-8:00am Morning Refreshments in Poster Display Area 8:00am-8:30am OPENING PLENARY SESSION – Orchid Ballroom 1 & 2 MODERATOR: Gene McAvoy, University of Florida/IFAS, LaBelle, FL Welcome and Introduction - Gene McAvoy, UF/IFAS Hendry County Extension, LaBelle, FL, USA8:00am-9:10am Keynote Presentation – Dr. Tom Zitter, Pepper Diseases through the Years: A Review9:10am-9:20am MEETING BREAKS INTO TWO CONCURRENT SESSIONS

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

SESSION 2 – Orchid Ballroom 2Horticultural Crop Management and ProductionMODERATOR: Monica Ozores-Hamp-ton, University of Florida/IFAS, Immokalee, FL

Session Introduction

Pepper Nitrogen Uptake in The Central Coast of California – Baameur Aziz, UC Cooperative Extension, San Jose, CA

Effect of Foliar Applied Potassium Nitrate on Yield and Quality of Capsicum spp. – Billy Weir, University of California, Merced, California

Diversity of Pungent Capsicum in Peru and Its Potential in Rural Development – Roberto Ugas, UNALM, Lima Peru

Effect of Organics on the Growth and Yield Parameters of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annum var. grossum) under Open and Shade House Condition – Vasant Ganiger, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, India

SESSION 1 – Orchid Ballroom 1Breeding and Genetics

MODERATOR: Gene McAvoy, University of Florida/IFAS, LaBelle, FL


Reviewing 30 Years of Capsicum Breeding at Embrapa Vegetables, Brazil – Francisco Reifschneider, Embrapa Empresa, Brasilia, Brazil

Effect of Spacing and Variety on Yield and Fruit Quality Pepper Grown with Seepage Irrigation in Florida Sandy Soils – Monica Ozores-Hampton, University of Florida/IFAS, Immokalee, FL

Introducing a Collection of 215 of Vegetative Organ Pepper Mutants – Csillery Gabor, Budapest, Hungary

Enhancement of Pungency and Resistance of Hungarian Red Pepper Varieties – Gabor Palotás, Univer Product Plc., Kecskemét

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9:20am-9:25am

9:25am-9:40am

9:40am-9:55am

9:55am-10:10am

10:10am-10:25am

10:25am-10:40amBREAK IN POSTER DISPLAY AREA


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SESSION 1 – Orchid Ballroom 1Plant Breeding

MODERATOR: Aparna Gazula, UF/IFAS Alachua County Extension


Genomic Localization of Bs5 and Bs6 In the Pepper Genome – Eduardo Vallejos, University of Florida/IFAS, Gainesville, FL

Breeding Peppers Resistant to Phytophthora capsici – Lindsay Wyatt, Cornell Universi-ty, Ithaca, NY

Phenotypic and Genotypic Evaluation of Phytophthora Fruit Rot Resistance in a Worldwide Germplasm – Rachel Naegele, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI

Collection Capsicum pubescens in Indonesia: Its Distribution and Cultivation – Sota Yamamoto, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan

Genetic Analysis and Breeding for Anthrac-nose Resistance in Chili Pepper - Jae Bok Yoon, Pepper & Breeding Institute, Suwon, Korea

SESSION 2 – Orchid Ballroom 2Integrated Pest Management

MODERATOR: Gene McAvoy, UF/IFAS Hendry County Extension


Ecosafe Integrated Weed Management of Chilli in Gangetic India – Ratikanta Ghosh, DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY, F/AG., BCKV, MOHANPUR, WEST BENGAL, INDIA

Managing Phytophthora Blight (Phytophthora capsici) of Pepper in Illinois - Mohammad Babadoost, University of Illinois, Crop Sciences Department, Urbana, IL, USA

Role of Blossom in Bell-Pepper Seed Infection by Xanthomonas euvesicatoria- Bhabesh Dutta, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA

Effect of Fungicide Type and Placement on Stem Cankers Caused by Phytophthora capsici on Pepper – Micahel Matheron, University of Arizona, Yuma, AZ

Present Status of Chilli Virus Diseases in West Bengal, India – Jayanta Tarafdor, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, India

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

12:00pm-1:30pmGROUP LUNCHEON – Vista Ballroom (Take escalator to Lower Level. The Vista Ballroom is just past the restaurant.)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2012 (CONTINUED)

10:45am-11:00am

11:00am-11:15am

11:15am-11:30am

11:30am-11:45am

11:45am-12:00am

10:40am-10:45am


SESSION 1 – Orchid Ballroom 1Horticultural Crop Management and ProductionMODERATOR: Crystal Snodgrass, UF/IFAS Manatee County Extension


Heat Stress Amelioration by Shading In-creases Fruit Yield and Quality in Bell Pepper (Capsicum annum L.) – Juan Diaz-Perez, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA

Applications of ABA to Improve Bell and Jalapeno Pepper Transplant Quality, Daniel Leskovar, Texas AgriLife, Uvalde, TX

Degradation Dynamics of some Modern Fungicides with Special Reference to Indian Chili (Capsicum annum L.) – Anjan Bhattacharyya, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya , Mohanpur, India

Impact of Field Inputs on Jalapeno Pepper Pungency - Baameur Aziz, UC Coopera-tive Extension, San Jose, CA

Effects of Solar Protectants on Yield and Res-idue Coating on Pepper Grown during the Spring and Fall in South Florida – Monica Ozores-Hampton, University of Florida/IFAS, Immokalee, FL

Physiological Seed Quality of Capsicum bac-catum L. var. pendulum and Capsicum chinense under Maturation at Tropical Conditions – Warley Nascimento, Embrapa Vegetables, Brasilia, Brazil


SESSION 2 – Orchid Ballroom 2Integrated Pest Management

MODERATOR: Camille Esmel, UF/IFAS Sumter County Extension


Response of Pepper (Capsicum annum) Genotypes to Co-infection by Phytophthora capsici and Meloidogyne incognita – Judy Thies, U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, Charleston, SC

Bacterial Spot Resistant Pepper Trials in Flor-ida - 2009 -2012 – Gene McAvoy, Univer-sity of Florida/IFAS, LaBelle, FL

Groundnut Ringspot Virus in Pepper and Other Vegetables in Florida – Scott Adkins, USDA-ARS, Fort Pierce, FL

Vertically Integrated IPM Program for Western Flower Thrips and Tospoviruses in Pepper – Joe Funderburk, University of Florida/IFAS, Quincy, FL

Comparative Effects of Chili Thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), On Eleven Pepper Varieties – Cliff Martin, University of Florida/IFAS, Homestead, FL

Control of Broad Mite, Polyphagotarsonemus latus and the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci in Open Field Pepper and Eggplant – Phil Stansly, University of Florida/IFAS, Immokalee, FL

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

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1:30pm-1:35pm

1:35pm-1:50pm

1:50pm-2:05pm

2:05pm-2:20pm

2:20pm-2:35pm

2:35pm-2:50pm

2:50pm-3:05pm

3:05pm-3:25pmBREAK IN POSTER DISPLAY AREA



SESSION 1 – Orchid Ballroom 1Horticultural Crop Management and Production – Protected Ag/Post-Harvest

MODERATOR: Crystal Snodgrass, UF/IFAS Manatee County Extension


Comparative Effects of Deficit Irrigation in NM Landrace and Commercial Chile Cultivars - Stephanie Walker, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

Nitrogen Has Major Impact on Bell Pepper Yield but Not Post Harvest Quality – Michelle Le Strange, University of California Coopera-tive Extension, Tulare, CA

Bell Peppers Grown Under Diffuse Glass – Christien Sauviller, Research Center Hoogstraten, Meerle-Hoogstraten, Belgium

Artificial Capillary Barrier Improves Root-Zone Conditions for Horticultural Crops. Response of Pepper Plants to Matric Head and Irrigation Water Salinity – Eviatar Ityel, Ministry of Agriculture, Ashkelon, Israel

Production and Management of Coloured Sweet Peppers under Low-cost Polygreen House - Bandyopadhyay Apurba, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, India

Cultural Practices for Indeterminate Bell Pep-per Production in Central America and the Do-minican Republic – Teresa Salame Donoso, University of Florida/IFAS, Wimauma, FL

Effects of In-Row Distances on Indeterminate Bell Pepper Cultivars under High Tunnels in Florida– Emmanual Torres-Quezada, University of Florida, Wimauma, FL

CONCURRENT SESSIONSSESSION 2 – Orchid Ballroom 2Breeding and Genetics



Cloning and Characterization of Genes Involved in Pollen Development in Pepper – Jianjun Lei, South China Agricultural Univer-sity, Guangzhou, China

Screening Peppers for Resistance to Leafminer (Liriomyza spp.) – Kevin Crosby, Texas A&M, College Station, TX

Evaluation of Nsukka Yellow Pepper (Capsicum annum L) Accessions for Yield and Pungency in Makurdi, Nigeria – N I Odiaka, College of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Makurdi , Benue State, Nigeria

Chemical Quality Component Contents of Selections for Adaptability to Korea in Four Species of Capsicum – Byung-Soo Kim, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea

Productivity, Plant Architecture, and Special Nutritional Qualities of Selected Hot Pepper Breeding Lines – Mohammed Jalaluddin, University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, AR

Genotype x Environment Interaction and Stabil-ity Analysis of Hot Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Genotypes in Southern India – Chittaiahgari Venkata Ramana, Dr.YSR Horticultural Uni-versity, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India

Genetic Divergence and Grouping of a Collection of Chilli Cultivars of C. annuum, C. fruitescens and C. chinense – Nilima Karmakar, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, India

CONCURRENT SESSIONS (CONTINUED)

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3:25pm-3:30pm

3:30pm-3:45pm

3:45pm-4:00pm

4:00pm-4:15pm

4:15pm-4:30pm

4:30pm-4:45pm

4:45pm-5:00pm

5:00pm-5:15pm


Prog

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Horticultural Crop Management and Production – Protected Ag/Post- Harvest (continued)

MODERATOR: Crystal Snodgrass, UF/IFAS Manatee County Extension

Effect of Organic Amendments on Shelf Life Qualities of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annum var. grossum) Fruits Grown under Open and Shade House Condition – G. Bhuvaneswari, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, India

SESSION 2 – Orchid Ballroom 2Breeding and Genetics (continued)


Field Trials of Peppers (Capsicum spp.) on the Island of St. Croix - Dilip Nandwani, Plant Science Laboratory, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of the Virgin Islands, Kingshill, US Virgin Islands


TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2012

5:30pm-6:00pmPoster Presenters to Remove Displays from Poster Boards

(Posters must be removed by 6pm.)

7:00pm-7:30pmSocial in the Orchid Foyer

7:30pm- 10:00pmEvening Dinner Banquet – Orchid Ballroom

7:00am Morning Refreshments in Hotel Lobby Alcove (Break is stationed next to main entrance of hotel by the front desk on the lower level. Busses board at 7:45am and depart promptly at 8:00am.)

7:45am Board BusesParticipants have been divided into two tour groups. Both tours will visit the same commercial production and packing operations. The color coded field trip card in your name tag pouch indi-cates which group you were assigned to. Please board the bus coded for your assigned group.

Group 1 – [YELLOW CARD] - Board Buses Parked in Front Circle Drive (Go straight after exiting hotel)Group 2 – [GREEN CARD] - Board Buses Parked at Side Entrance of Hotel (Turn left after exiting hotel)

8:00am-5:00pm Commercial Field Trip: This segment of our conference entails an all-day tour of local industry research facilities and commercial production. Traditional cultivars as well as advanced breeding material will be available at all sites. Lunch will be provided.

5:30pm Buses Return to Hotel

7:00pm-10:00pm Closing Dinner Banquet at Waldorf Astoria – Outdoors on the Sunset Deck past the Vista Ballroom**If it rains, dinner will be served in Royal Palm 1-3 on the second level of the conference center.

10:00pm CONFERENCE CONCLUDES

CONCURRENT SESSIONS (CONTINUED)

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5:15pm-5:30pm


Salinity Tolerance in Pepper in the Sundarban Region of West Bengal, INDIA - Chandan Kumar Mondal, Uttam Saha and Pinaki Acharyya, Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Science, University of Calcutta, India

Variability, Genetic Advance and Characters Association Study in Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) - P.S. Ajjappalavara1, V.M. Ganiger2, M.B. Madalgeri2, I.B. Biradar2 and R.K. Mesta1, 1Horticulture Research Station, Haveri (Devihosur)- Karnataka, India; 2College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India; University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagakot

Managing Key Pepper Pests with Tolfenpyrad Insecticide - B. Balogh1 and J.C. Adams2, 1Nichino America, Inc., Apollo Beach FL; 2Nichino America, Inc., Wilm-ington, DE, USA

Genotypic Response Of Five Chili (Bell Pepper) Genotypes Towards Seed Biopriming and its Seed Production Potential - A.K. Basu and Anuj Rai, Department of Seed Science & Technology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, W.B., INDIA

Bio-inputs: A Clean Alternative for Bolivian Chili Export - C. Bejarano Martínez1, H. Equise1, C. Mayan1, J. Matthias2, M. van Zonneveld2, and K. Amaya2, 1 Fundación PROINPA, Sucre, Bolivia; 2Bioversity International, Regional Office for the Americas, Cali, Colombia

Physiological Responses of Grafted Pepper (Capsicum spp.) Plants to Water Stress - A. Calatayud 1, C. Penella1 , S.G. Nebauer2, A. San Bautista2 and S. López-Galarza2, 1Departamento Horticultura, Instituto Valenciano de Investiga-ciones Agrarias (IVIA), Valencia, Spain; 2Departamento Producción Vegetal, Universitat Politècnica València, Valencia, Spain

Green Pesticides for the management of Chili (Bell Pepper) Pests - M.L. Chatterjee, Department of Agricultural Entomology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India

‘New NMSU Ornamental Chile Pepper Varieties Add Color to the Holidays’ - Paul W. Bosland1 and Danise Coon2, 1,2,3 Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

‘Trinidad Moruga Scorpion is the World’s Hottest Chile Pepper at 2 Mil-lion Scoville Heat Units’ - Paul W. Bosland1, Danise Coon2 and Greg Reeves3, 1,2,3 Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

Occurence of Resistance Breaking Strain of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus on Resistant Pepper Cultivars in Hungary - G. Csilléry,1 A. Almási2 and I. Tóbiás2, 1Budakert Ltd., 2Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

POSTER DIRECTORY PosterNumber

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(Listing is in alphabetical order by presenting author last name.)


Chile Pepper Juice Supports the Growth of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7 - Jorge A. Beall, Ruben Zapata, and Willis M. Fedio, Food Safety Laboratory, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

Enumeration, Isolation and Characterization of Lactic Acid Bacteria from Fermented Chile Pepper (Capsicum annuum cv. Mesilla Cayenne) Mash - J.A. Beall1, N.C. Flores2 and W.M. Fedio1, 1Food Safety Laboratory, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM; 2Extension Home Economics, New Mexi-co State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

Microbiological Safety of Flame Roasted New Mexico Green Chile Peppers - Paul Browning1, Ruben Zapata1, Jorge Beall1, David Lucero2, and Willis M. Fedio1, 1New Mexico State University, Food Safety Laboratory, Las Cruces, NM; 2New Mexico Department of Agriculture, Marketing and Development Division, Las Cruces, NM, USA

Real-Time PCR for Detection of Shiga Toxin Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in Dried Red Chile - W.M. Fedio, P.E. Browning and R. Zapata, New Mexico State University, Food Safety Laboratory, Las Cruces, NM, USA

Conservation Biological Control Program for Western Flower Thrips in Pepper - Stuart Reitz1, Joe Funderburk2, and Gene McAvoy3, 1Center for Med-ical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, 6383 Mahan Dr., Tallahassee, FL; 2North Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Quincy, FL; 3University of Florida Hendry County Extension, LaBelle, FL, USA

Research-based Online Chile Pepper (Capsicum spp.) Resources for Master Gardeners - W.V. Hamilton1, 1Cooperative Extension Service, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

Current Studies on Management of Pepper Yellow Leaf Curl Disease in Indonesia - Sri Hendrastuti Hidayat, Purnama Hidayat, Bagus Kukuh Udiarto, Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural Universi-ty, Bogor, Indonesia

Evaluation of Hot Peppers for Antioxidant Quality under Different Stor-age Conditions - Qumer Iqbal1, Muhammad Amjad1 and Muhammad Rafique Asi2, 1Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 2Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Pakistan

Potassium Fertilization Effects on Jalapeño Pepper Yield and Quality - J.L. Jifon1, K. Crosby2, D.I. Leskovar3, G.E. Lester4, 1Texas AgriLife Research, VFIC, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M System, Weslaco, TX; 2College Station, TX, 3Uvalde, TX; 4USDA-ARS Beltsville, MD, USA

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2012 INTERNATIONAL PEPPER PROCEEDINGS14 2012 INTERNATIONAL PEPPER PROCEEDINgS14

Evaluating Chili Pepper Cultivars in Central Missouri - S. Kirk and S. Gu, Cooperative Extension and Research, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, MO, USA

Red Bell Pepper Cultivar Evaluations for the Summer and Fall Markets - Wesley L. Kline1 and C. Andrew Wyenandt², ¹Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cumberland County, ²Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Millville, NJ, USA

Cytomorphological and Seed Protein Profiles of F1 Hybrid between C.annuum L and C.frutescens L. - V. Rattan Kumar1, S. Subba Tata1 and O. Aniel Kumar1, Department of Botany, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Developing an IPM Strategy for Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus in California - Michelle Le Strange1, R. Gilbertson2, O. Batuman2, N. McRoberts2, D. Ullman2, T. Turini3, S. Stoddard3, G. Miyao3, 1University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare and Kings Counties, CA, USA; 2Plant Pathology & Entomology Departments, University of California, Davis, CA, USA; 3University of California Cooperative Ex-tension, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, Solano, and Yolo, Counties, CA, USA

Nitrogen Has Major Impact on Bell Pepper Yield but Not Post Harvest Quality - Michelle Le Strange1 and Marita Cantwell2, 1University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare & Kings Counties, CA, USA; 2Plant Sciences Dept, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

Screening Capsicum Pepper Accessions for Tolerances to Salinity and Water Stresses - S. López-Galarza1, S.G. Nebauer1, A. San Bautista1, C. Penel-la2 and A. Calatayud2, 1Departamento Producción Vegetal, Universitat Politècnica València, Valencia, Spain; 2Departamento Horticultura, Instituto Valenciano de Inves-tigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Valencia

The Proper Role of Insecticides in IPM Programs for Western Flower Thrips in Pepper - Gene McAvoy1, Joe Funderburk2, Mrittunjai Srivistava2, and Norm Leppla3, 1University of Florida Hendry County Extension, LaBelle, Florida; 2North Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Quincy, Florida; 3Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

Bioactive and Valuable Compounds in 114 Native Bolivian Chili Acces-sions - S. Meckelmann1, D. Riegel1, C. Bejarano2, T. Avila3, M. van Zonnefeld4, M. Petz1, 1Department of Food Chemistry, University of Wuppertal, Germany, 2Fundación PROINPA, Bolivia, 3CIFP, Bolivia, 4Bioversity International, Cali/Columbia

Bioactive Field Trials of Peppers (Capsicum spp.) on the Island of St. Croix - Dilip Nandwani, Plant Science Laboratory, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of the Virgin Islands, Kingshill, USVI

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Effect of Spacing and Variety on Yield and Fruit Quality of Pepper Grown with Seepage Irrigation in Florida Sandy Soils - Monica Ozores-Hampton, University of Florida/Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, Immokalee FL, USA

Examination of High Hydrostatic Pressure Technology for Preservation of Hungarian Red Pepper Paste - Gábor Palotás1, I. Dalmadi2, A. Tréfás1, H. Kis1, E. Baisánszki1, Gabriella Palotás1 and Cs. Balla2, 1Univer Product Plc., Kecskemét, Hungary; 2Department of Refrigeration and Livestock Products’ Technology, Corvi-nus University of Budapest, Hungary

Methodological Options for Selection of Different Capsaicin-Containing Red Pepper Breeding Lines - Z. Tímár1, Gábor Palotás2, E. Sisákné Tatár1, Gabriella Palotás2 and G. Csilléry3, 1Red Pepper Research and Development Non-profit Ltd., Kalocsa, Hungary; 2Univer Product Plc., Kecskemét, Hungary, 3Budakert Ltd., Budapest, Hungary

Use of Chlorophyll Fluorescence Imaging as Diagnostic Technique to Predict Compatibility in Capsicum spp. Graft - C. Penella1 , S.G. Nebauer2, A. San Bautista2, S. López-Galarza2 and A. Calatayud1, 1Departamento Horticultura. Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones agrarias (IVIA). Valencia. Spain; 2Departamento Producción Vegetal, Universitat Politècnica València, Valencia, Spain

Industrial Characterization, Carotenoid Accumulation and Carotenoid Biosynthetic Gene Expression for Red, Yellow and Brown Fruit Capsi-cum Genotypes - María-Teresa Pino1, Carolina Pabon2, Darío Estay1, Paulina Villagra1, Maritza Mateo3, Gabriel Saavedra1, Ricardo Pertuze3, Ana-Mabel Muñoz1, 1Institute of Agricultural Research of Chile (INIA) Santiago Chile, 2Escuela Politécni-ca del Ejército Quito Ecuador, 3Universidad de Chile, Santiago Chile

Soluble Organic Fertilization of Poly-house Peppers - J.E. Reid, K.E. Klotzbach, and N.R. Hoover, Cornell Cooperative Extension Vegetable Program, Cornell University, Penn Yan, NY, USA

Genetic Divergence Among Jalapeño (Capsicum annuum var. annuum) Genotypes Based on Morpho-agronomic Characteristics - A. Ulhoa1,T. Pereira1, F.J.B. Reifschneider2, R. N. O. Silva1, R. Rodrigues1, M. G. Pereira1, 1Plant Breeding Department, UENF, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil; 2EMBRAPA Hor-taliças, EMBRAPA, Distrito Federal, Brasília, Brazil

Inheritance of Resistance to PepYMV in Capsicum baccatum var. pen-dulum - R. Rodrigues1, C. dos S. Bento1, L. S. A. Gonçalves1, H. S. de Oliveira1 and C. P. Sudre1, 1Plant Breeding Department, UENF, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil

PosterNumber

45

35

36

37

34

33

21

22

2012 INTERNATIONAL PEPPER PROCEEDINGS16 2012 INTERNATIONAL PEPPER PROCEEDINgS16

Resistance to Anthracnose in Capsicum spp. Accessions - R. Rodrigues1, S. de A. M. da Silva1, L. S. A. Gonçalves1, A. M. Medeiros1, H. S. de Oliveira1 and C. P. Sudre1, 1Plant Breeding Department, UENF, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil

Performances of Lines Derived through Pure Line Selection from Naga Jolokia x Habanero Orange Cross - S.K.Samanta, Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya Kalyani, W.B., India The Age Affects Germination of Seeds of Piquin Chili - A. Sandoval R., and A. Benavides, M., Department of Horticulture, Antonio Narro University, Saltillo, Coahuila, México; K. Alva R. and M. E. Vazquez B, Computing and Department of Plant Breeding, Antonio Narro University, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

Eco-friendly IPM Modules against Sucking and Chewing Pests of Chil-li (Capsicum annuum L.) : Indian Perspective - P.K.Sarkar, G. P.Timsina and S.K.Samanta, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, India

Internal Fruit Rot (Fusarium spp.) of Greenhouse Bell Peppers - C. Sauviller1, M. Van Mechelen1, M. Frans2, R. Aerts2, K. Heungens3, K. Van Poucke3, F. Focquet3 en L. Van Herck4 , 1Research Centre Hoogstraten, Meerle, Belgium; 2Research Group Sustainable Crop Protection, Katholieke Hogeschool Kempen, Geel, Belgium; 3Institute for Agricul-tural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Plant Sciences Unit – Crop Protection, Merelbeke, Belgium; 4Research Station for Vegetable Production, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium

Flavor Enhancement of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum) Through Intro-gressions From Related Germplasm - Albrecht, Elena1, Robert A. Saftner2, John R. Stommel3, Eunhee Park2, 1Keygene Inc., Rockville, MD; 2Food Quality Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD; 3Genetic Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD, USA

Major Fungal Diseases of Chilli (Capsicum annum) in West Bengal, India and its Management - Jayanta Tarafdar1, P.K. Sarkar2 and S.K. Samanta1, 1Director-ate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India; 2Department of Agricultural Entomology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India

A Novel Push-Pull Method for Managing Thrips in Bell Peppers - K.A. Tyler-Julian1, G. Frantz2, J.E. Funderburk1, C. Mellinger2, and S. Reitz3, 1University of Florida, North Florida Research and Education Center, Quincy, FL; 2Glades Crop Care, Inc. Jupiter, FL; 3Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Problems and Prospects of Hot Pepper Research in India – A Review - C.Venkata Ramana, L.Naram Naidu, T. Vijaya Lakshmi, C.Sarada and P. Vijaya Laksh-mi; Dr. YSR Horticultural University, Horticultural Research Station, Lam Farm, Andhra Pradesh, India

PosterNumber

23

25

24

26

32

31

28

29

27


Tour Group 1 – [YELLOW CARD] Board Buses Parked in Front Circle Drive (Go straight after exiting front of hotel)

8:00am Depart Hotel 8:45am-9:15am Lipman Produce , Estero, FL

9:50am-10:40am Sakata Seed America, Inc., Fort Myers, FL

11:15am-12:00pm Seminis Seed Felda, FL

12:30pm-1:30pm LUNCH BUFFET Immokalee Technical Center (iTech) Immokalee, FL

1:50pm-2:15pm Harris Moran Farm Immokalee, FL

3:15pm-3:45pm Redi Plants Naples, FL

4:00pm-4:45pm Syngenta Seeds Naples, FL 5:15pm Return to Hotel

Tour Group 2 – [GREEN CARD]Board Buses Parked at Side Entrance of Hotel (Turn left after exiting front of hotel)

8:00am Depart Hotel

8:30am-9:15am Syngenta Seeds, Naples, FL

9:25am-9:55am Redi Plants Naples, FL

10:55am-11:25am Harris Moran Seed Company, Immokalee, FL

12:00pm-12:45pm Sakata Seed America, Inc., Fort Myers, FL

1:30pm-2:30pm LUNCH BUFFET Immokalee Technical Center (iTech) Immokalee, FL

2:45pm-3:20pm Seminis Seed Felda, FL

4:10pm-4:40pm Lipman Produce Estero, FL

5:30pm Return to Hotel

Commercial Field Tour

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2012

Please join us in thanking all of the companies who graciously participated as host sites of our Commercial Field Tour. We appreciate them opening their doors to give us a bird-eye view of their operations and commercial pepper production in South Florida.

FIELD TOUR ITINERARY

7:00am Morning Refreshments in Main Hotel Lobby Alcove (ground floor) 7:45am BOARD BUSES* *Participants are divided into two tour groups. Both groups will visit the same commercial operations. The color coded field trip card in your name tag pouch indicates which group you were assigned to. Please board the bus coded for your assigned group.


Salinity Tolerance in Pepper in the Sundarban Region of West Bengal, India

Chandan Kumar Mondal, Uttam Saha and Pinaki AcharyyaDepartment of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Science, University of Calcutta, INDIA

Sundarban, the world’s largest delta is an agriculturally backward region as it faces the problems of salinity both in soil and water, poor irrigation facilities and poor drainage system during rainy season. Hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L) commonly known as chilli, is an important com-mercial crop of this region as it sustains to higher levels of salinity, drought tolerance and easy storability. Further, poor communication related to weather forecasting adds to the farmers woos. Parallely Chilli leaf curl complex is another problem, whose prevalence is quite high . The present scenario tends to usage of local landraces, mostly undescribed. A search was made to locate genotypes having tolerance to both salinity and leaf curl complex. Twelve inbred lines were tried at three distint locations having salinity gradients of 1.63 mS/cm, 2.55 mS/cm, 3.72 mS/


Stability analysis at Multilocational Trial

cm respectively of the coastal Bengal region. Seven accessions were found to perform well under differential situation and possessed good stability coupled with higher leaf curl complex tolerance. These seven genotypes were CUCH-1, CUCH-4, CUCH-6, CUCH-29, CUCH-31, CUCH-34 and CUCH-35. Among these seven, the best two performers were CUCH-31 and CUCH-35 recording a fresh yield of 218.17 g/plant, 175.56 g/plant, 139.68 g/plant and 190.54 g/plant, 159.77 g/plant, 148.19 g/plant at low, medium and high salinity levels respectively. These genotypes may be utilized in the commercial production system in a critical, diversified and risk prone area like Sundarbans to sustain the livelihood of the farmers of this region. Further the seven genotypes were subjected to RAPD analysis and polymorphic bands were observed.

Contact Information: Pinaki Acharyya, Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Science, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata-700019, West Bengal, India, Phone 91-33-24615445 x 364, Email: [email protected]




Groundnut ringspot virus in Pepper and Other Vegetables in Florida

Scott Adkins1, Craig G. Webster1, H. Charles Mellinger2, Galen Frantz2, William W. Turechek1, Eugene McAvoy3, Stuart R. Reitz4 and Joe Funderburk5

1USDA-ARS, Fort Pierce, FL 2Glades Crop Care, Inc., Jupiter, FL3University of Florida/IFAS Hendry County Extension, LaBelle, FL 4 USDA-ARS, Tallahasse, FL5University of Florida, NFREC, Quincy, FL

Groundnut ringspot virus (GRSV) emerged in solanaceous vegetables in South Florida in late 2009-early 2010, extending the known distribu-tion of this tospovirus beyond South America and South Africa. GRSV can infect pepper and other solanaceous vegetable crops at all stages of plant growth, and often leads to non-marketable fruits. GRSV symp-toms in pepper are virtually indistinguishable from those induced by Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), the original member of the tospo-virus group of plant viruses and a relative of GRSV. These symptoms include chlorotic and necrotic spots or rings on young leaves, inward rolling of older leaves, and overall stunting of plants (especially when infection occurs at an early age). Fruits are also deformed and off col-or, often with characteristic rings. Due to the similarity of symptoms, specific molecular tests are required to discriminate between GRSV and TSWV infection of pepper. GRSV has a relatively narrow known host range. Beyond pepper, GRSV has been detected in tomato, egg-plant, tomatillo and several solanaceous weeds in Florida. Experimen-tal host range testing and field surveys are ongoing to define a more complete host range for GRSV in the state. Tospoviruses are transmit-ted by several species of thrips. Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) is well-described for TSWV transmission and has been recently shown to transmit GRSV in Florida. Other locally important thrips species are currently being tested to determine their ability to acquire and transmit GRSV. To date, GRSV has been detected in com-mercial pepper and/or tomato fields in nine Florida counties. Broader geographic surveys for GRSV are ongoing. Our multidisciplinary and multi-institutional team is addressing the most pressing practical issues resulting from the detection of GRSV in Florida. Strong grower and industry support has bolstered these efforts to develop effective GRSV management strategies. Management of GRSV, TSWV and the thrips vectors is difficult. Once a plant becomes infected with either virus, it cannot be cured. Roguing should be used to prevent further spread of GRSV or TSWV to adjacent plants. This is particularly important in transplant production, and also with GRSV in field production, where incidence generally remains low (less than 2%). Management of west-ern flower thrips and other potential thrips species (yet to be identified) capable of transmitting GRSV in Florida is important to reduce virus spread. Since GRSV and TSWV are closely related, it is likely that the integrated TSWV management strategies developed and currently used in North Florida can be adapted for effective GRSV management elsewhere in the state. Ongoing surveys for GRSV and thrips vec-tors in Florida and beyond are benefiting from the development and current testing of a smartphone-based system to collect and upload GPS-labeled scouting data (virus, thrips and production information) to a central server where it can be processed and analyzed. When fully implemented, this system will deliver real-time reports and manage-ment recommendations to growers and/or their scouts making possible “area-wide” management of diseases and pests, including GRSV.

Contact Information: Scott Adkins, USDA-ARS, 2001 South Rock Road, Fort Pierce, FL 34945, Phone (772) 462-5885, Email: [email protected]

Variability, Genetic Advance and Characters Association Study in Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.)

P.S. Ajjappalavara1, V.M. Ganiger2, M.B. Madalgeri2, I.B. Biradar2 and R.K. Mesta1

1Horticulture Research Station, Karnataka, India2College of Horticulture, Karnataka, India University of Horticultural Sciences

An investigation on chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) was undertaken at the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Univer-sity of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot during kharif 2011-12 in irri-gated condition to estimate the genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation, genetic advance, nature of correlation among the quan-titative traits and the direct and indirect contributions of components towards green fruit yield per plant and to identify the most important characters that may be used in selection criteria in chilli breeding pro-gramme. In the experiment thirty two chilli genotypes were included and nine important agronomic traits were recorded viz., days to first flowering, days to fifty per cent flowering, plant height (cm), number of primary branches, number of fruits per plant, fruit length (cm), fruit girth (cm), average green fruit weight (g) and green fruit yield per plant (g). In the study, results shown that green fruit yield per plant (g) recorded highest genotypic (44.22 %) and phenotypic (45.81 %) coefficient of variation and genetic advance (87.77 %) followed by number of fruits per plant, whereas highest heritability was noticed for days to first flowering (99%) followed by average fruit weight and fruit length (98%). Correlation coefficients of traits were shown that, the values of genotypic correlation coefficients were higher than the phe-notypic correlation coefficients except plant height and number of pri-mary branches study indicates that high heritable nature of characters. And fruit yield per plant was positively correlated with the plant height (cm), number of fruits per plant, fruit length (cm), fruit girth (cm), and average fruit weight (g). Path coefficient analysis indicated that all the characters studied were had a positive direct effect with a green fruit yield per plant except days to first flowering as it is desirable. Contact Information: Dr. P.S. Ajjappalavara, Horticulture Research Station, Haveri (Devihosur)-581 110 University of Horticultural Sci-ences, Bagakot-587 102 Karnataka State, India. Phone: +91 8375-290101, Email:[email protected]

Impact of Field Inputs on Jalapeno Pepper Pungency

Aziz Baameur1 , Ian Teresi2, and Maria de la Fuente1. 1UC Cooperative Extension, Santa Clara & San Benito Counties. 2GC Farms Production Manager, Morgan Hill, California

Jalapeno peppers are an important crop in the California Central Coast region. Growers of processing and fresh market jalapenos are interested in the fruit physical and chemical qualities. One of the chemical attributes of special interest is fruit pungency as indicated by Scoville Heat Units. Pepper growers are looking in field inputs and strategies or cultural practices that would enhance pungency beyond genetic attributes. Most growers have a favorite variety that they would like to keep, but may want to increase its pungency to meet buyers demand. In this three-year field study, we experimented with various field in-puts to assess their impact on pungency level of jalapeno fruit, be-yond what the plant genetics offer. We employed a combination of plant nutrition variables coupled with several plant stress strategies and evaluated their impact on yield and capsaicin concentration. We conducted these studies in jalapeno production fields and con-formed to real-world production considerations. Studies looked into increased or decreased N inputs, sea salt application, time-ly water deficit, as well as combinations of N and water defi-cit. Data collected focused on fruit yield, fruit quality such as


size, wall thickness, and especially capsaicin levels. Data on oth-er pertinent yield components were also collected and analyzed. Results showed that increased capsaicin could be achieved by manip-ulating certain inputs. However, an optimal combination of yield and capsaicin concentration is needed to be defined before a grower can utilize these strategies in an economically beneficial way.

Contact Information: Aziz Baameur, UC Cooperative Extension, Santa Clara County, 1553 Berger Dr. Bldg. 1, San Jose, CA 95112, Phone (408) 282-3127, Email: [email protected]

Pepper Nitrogen Uptake in The Central Coast of California

Aziz Baameur1 & Richard Smith2. 1UC Cooperative Extension, Santa Clara & San Benito, Santa Cruz Counties. 2 UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz Counties

One of the most challenging aspects of growing pepper, and few other crops, is the lack of empirical information on nutrient uptake. To ad-equately manage the crop nutritional need, growers rely on soil moni-toring, crop and plant tissue analyses. However, as regulatory environ-ment gets tighter, there is an increasing need to tackle the difficult task of evaluating plant consumption of nutrient and their relative partition. The main objective of this first year trial is to investigate the nutri-ent uptake by pepper crops. Eight fields were included representing bell and jalapeno peppers. The cooperating growers carried out all the management logistics. We selected and replicated plots in each field. At each harvest, we collected all fruit, weighed it, count it and categorized it by salable or reject. At the last harvest, we made up composite samples of fruit and others of aboveground plant materi-al and analyzed them for NPK content. We also analyzed soil sam-ples for same nutrient analyses.Plot production ranged between 24-40 tons/acre for jalapenos and 34-56 tons/acre for bells. Dry matter (DM) production was similar for both type of crops (26-27 tons/acre). Based on laboratory analyses, nutrient content of above ground biomass varied between 224 and 240 lbs/acre of N for bells and jalapenos, respectively. Bells and jalapenos did take up about 270 lbs./acre of K and around 30-33 lbs./acre of phospho-rus. When we compared uptake to growers input, about 72% of N, 48% of P, and almost all of the K was taken up by the crop. Additional work is need to validate the data presented here.

Contact Information: Aziz Baameur, UC Cooperative Extension, Santa Clara County, 1553 Berger Dr. Bldg. 1, San Jose, CA 95112, Phone (408) 282-3127, Email: [email protected].

Managing Phytophthora Blight (Phytophthora capsici) of Pepper in Illinois

M. Babadoost Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USAPhytophthora blight, caused by Phytophthora capsici, is the most im-portant disease of peppers in Illinois, causing crop losses of up to 100 percent. P. capsici infects more than 50 species in 15 plant families. Major host crops of P. capsici are peppers, cucurbits, and eggplant. The pathogen can infect pepper plants at all growth stages. P. capsici infects roots, crown, stems, leaves, and fruit, causing seedling death, stem lesion, leaf spot, foliar blight, and fruit rot. The first symptom on pepper in the field is commonly crown rot. The affected plants are usu-ally defoliated, wilt, and die within 7-10 days. In some cultivars, only fruit are infected. Infected fruit develop dark, water-soaked lesions, which are commonly covered with white mycelium of the pathogen. In the greenhouse, infection of stem at soil level and defoliation of plants

occur within one to two weeks following inoculation. Three approach-es were evaluated for management of Phytophthora blight in peppers, which included: (i) using resistant cultivars, (ii) cropping rotation, and (iii) application of fungicides. To identify resistant pepper cultivars to P. capsici, more than 100 cultivars/accessions of bell pepper were tested in the greenhouse and field. In the greenhouse, 8-week-old seed-lings were inoculated with P. capsici. Pepper cultivars that showed re-sistance to P. capsici were also evaluated in naturally infested commer-cial fields with P. capsici. Cultivars Alliance, Aristotle, Aristatol-XR3, Declaration, Emerald Isle, Enza, Paladin, Polaris, Reinger, Revolution, Seigers-9915776, and Snapper F1 were resistant to Illinois isolates of P. capsici. Based on survival of P. capsici oospores in soil, a four-year cropping rotations with nonhost crops was established. Captan (Maestro 80DF), cyazofamid (Ranman 400SC), dimethomorph (Fo-rum 4.16 SC), famoxadone + cymoxanil (Tanos 50WDG), fluazianum (Omega 500F), fluopicolide (Presidio 4SC), mandipropamid (Revus 2.09SC), mefenoxam (Ridomil Gold Copper 65WP, Ridomil Gold EC 4SC), Zampro (experimental) were effective in controlling P. capsi-ci in pepper in the fields in Illinois. Fungicides should be applied at weekly intervals, beginning with the transplanting of the seedlings in the field. During 2010 and 2011, also efficacy of drip-delivery of fungicides for management of P. capsici in bell pepper was assessed. Drip-delivery of Presidio, Revus, and Zampro significantly reduced P. capsici infection in bell pepper. Drip-drip-delivery plus spray applica-tions of fungicides also effectively reduced P. capsici infection in pep-per. Cultural practices such as using fields with well-drained soils and planting on raised beds reduce the incidence of Phytophthora blight of peppers in the fields. Contact Information: Mohammad Babadoost, N-533 Turner Hall, 1102 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801; phone: 217-333-1523; fax: 217-333-5299; email: [email protected].

Managing Key Pepper Pests with Tolfenpyrad Insecticide

B. Balogh1 and J.C. Adams2

1Nichino America, Inc., Apollo Beach FL 2Nichino America, Inc., Wilmington DE

Tolfenpyrad (soon to be released as ToracTM by Nichino America) is a new broad-spectrum contact insecticide that works by interfer-ing with Complex I (NADH dehydrogenase) in the mitochondri-al electron transport chain thus inhibiting cellular respiration and energy production. Tolfenpyrad causes rapid cessation of feed-ing and death of the pest usually within 24-48 hours. It affects multiple life stages of the target insects: eggs, larvae and adults. Tolfenpyrad is effective against a number of economically important insect pests of pepper including broad mite (Polyphagotarsonemus la-tus), pepper weevil (Anthonomus eugenii), flower thrips (Frankliniella spp.), chilli thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis), melon thrips (Thrips palmi) and aphid species. The aim of this poster is to demonstrate the ver-satility of tolfenpyrad through a sample of field trials conducted by independent university researchers.

Contact Information: Botond Balogh, Product Development Repre-sentative, Nichino America Inc., 124 Star Shell Drive, Apollo Beach, FL 33572, Phone (352) 870-4075, Email: [email protected]

Production and Management of Coloured Sweet Peppers under Low-cost Polygreen House S.K.Samanta, A.Bandyopadhyay, P.K.Sarkar and J.TarafdarDirectorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (State Agriculture University)Nadia, W.B.INDIA


Sweet peppers usually called ‘coloured capsicum’ in India are of high demand in elite markets. Its production in open field is practically im-possible in tropical condition. To develop suitable package of practices for this important high value vegetable, low cost naturally ventilated polygreen house was used for this study. A collection of 35 genotypes from AVRDC as well as different seed companies were grown during last four years (2007-2011). Genotypes were of distinctly different with respect to morphological characters of fruit and plant growth habit. May be genotypes were bred for different segments, but we used single protocol particularly irrigation, fertiliser schedule and pesticide management for all genotypes under a single polygreen house. Beds were 1.5-m wide (furrow to furrow), 30 cm high. Two rows are trans-planted per bed. The two rows in each bed are spaced 50-cm apart, with plants spaced 50-cm apart within each row. This creates a population density of 26,670 plants/ha. Fertigation was 3gm NPK (19:19:19) per plant through drip in every alternate day. Micronutrients were applied thrice in a week. In case of four lobed bell types, genotypes having 150-180g fruit size yielded best i.e., 4kg/ plant. The genotypes having more than 250g fruit size, yield was around 3-3.5kg/plant. The other genotypes like sweet cony, baby bells, dulcino and tomato shape vari-eties; cumulative yield for the entire growing period was appreciable (3-5kg/plant). During these four seasons of study use of 24-28 days old seedlings raised in plugs helped in establishing best crop in this type of green house while planted in mid- August to have first harvest during the end of December. Due to high temperature before August, if plant-ed, crop gets infected with mites and thrips. Temperature starts ris-ing after March and naturally fruit shape gets deformed. Spacing was 50cm x 50cm. On an average yield was 4kg/plant in case of bell types and 3.0 kg/plant in other types. In this span of six-seven months from September to March all sorts of colour develops correctly and fruits harvested are of good marketable form. Considering 26000plants/ha, yield varied according to types from 78t/ha to 100t/ha which was found economically viable.

Contact Information: Dr. A. Bandyopadhyay, Professor & OIC, AICRP on Palms, Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, 741252,INDIA, e-mail: [email protected]

Genotypic Response of Five Chilli (Bell Pepper) Genotypes Towards Seed Biopriming and its Seed Production Potential

A.K. Basu and Anuj Rai Department of Seed Science & Technology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia-741252, W.B., INDIA [email protected]

Five genotypes of chilli viz., Ac-574, Ac-615, Bcc-62, Hyb (3)2 & Pant c1 were grown in the University farm to assess variation in its yield potential, both green vegetable and seed, during winter season of 2010-11. Seed quality parameters were studied at the same time in laboratory condition. Response of those five genotypes was also assessed towards seed biopriming with Pseudomonas sps. and Trich-oderma viridi for production of high vigour seedling. Significant variation was noted among genotypes for all the characters studied excepting plant height. Highest seed yield was recorded for Hyb (3)2 along with dry fruit weight, number of seeds per pod, test weight, etc., whereas seedlings with highest vigour status were produced after Ac-574 followed by Ac-615 and Pant c1. Seedlings with significantly lowest vigour status for Hyb (3)2 may be due to its constitutional genetic behaviour. Germination potential, both at first and final count, as well as seedlings with higher vigour status were observed to be varied among genotypes after biopriming indicating its response is dependent on genetic architecture of individual genotypes.

Bio-inputs: A Clean Alternative for Bolivian Chili Export C. Bejarano Martínez1, H. Equise1, C. Mayan1, J. Matthias2, M. van Zonneveld2, and K. Amaya2

1 Fundación PROINPA, Sucre, Bolivia 2 Bioversity International, Regional Office for the Americas, Cali, Colombia

The evolution of useful soil fungi in Chuquisaca, Bolivia has gener-ated a great interest to enhance chili pepper production for commer-cialization and export. Farmers grow locally improved materials of the botanical variety Capsicum baccatum L. var. pendulum (Willd.) Eshbaugh. Fundación PROINPA has developed over the last eight years five bio-fertilizers, three bio-fungicides, three bio-insecticides and an organic fermentation accelerator to improve clean and sustain-able agricultural production and have cultivated mycorrhizae for better nutrient uptake. Within this context, in 2010-2011 in the community of Campo Redondo, Municipality of Padilla (Chuquisaca, Bolivia) at 2050 m.a.s.l., with an annual average rainfall of 800 mm and an av-erage temperature of 16°C, two research trials with bio-inputs were carried out. We evaluated the effect of four mycorrhizae of the Glomus genus and two bio-fertilizers on chili pepper production. In both trials four strains of mycorrhizae (Glomus intraradice, Glomus musseae, Glomus etunicatum and Glomus elunicalum) and two bio-fertilizers (Biofert: 180 kg/ha and Micobac: 2 kg / 200 L/ha) were implemented in farmers’ fields under completely randomized block designs. Mycorrhizae were applied in nurseries and the bio-fertilizers were ap-plied during transplantation of seedlings in the field. In the nurseries during seedling growth no differences between plants with mycorrhi-zae strains and the control (without mycorrhizae) were observed; how-ever, when seedlings were subject to a water stress treatment (twice during six days each), it was found that seedlings with G. intraradices reacted positively to the treatment, as they did not wilt due to their in-creased root development. On the other side, G. etunicatum seedlings and the control showed susceptibility towards water stress as more than 50% of the seedlings wilted although they had an appropriate root development. Once seedlings were transplanted to the production field, their height, leaf area, number of pods and yield were evaluated. Plants with G. elunicalum showed an enhanced vegetative development, a larger number of pods per plant and higher yield showing statistical differences with the rest of the treatments. Plants where the bio-fer-tilizer Biofert and Micobac were applied showed positive effects on plant growth and in leaf development compared to the control. Overall results show that the application of Micobac increased chili production to 4.5 tons/ha and the application of Biofert increased production to 4 tons/ha compared with the control treatment (no bio-fertilizer ap-plication) that only produced 1.8 tons/ha. The agronomic response of chili plants when bio-inputs were applied was beneficial for most of the characteristics in chilies, and as a consequence their application is possible if the overall purpose is to obtain cleaner products with less economic cost.

Contact Information: C. Bejarano Martínez, Fundación PROINPA, Calle Perú # 100, Sucre, Bolivia, Phone: (591) 46 45 12 47, Email: [email protected]

Degradation Dynamics of some Modern Fungicides with special reference to Indian Chilli (Capsicum annum) Cultivation

Anjan Bhattacharyya, Soumyadip Mukhopadhyay & Chiranjit KunduPesticide Residue Laboratory, Deptt. Of Agricultural Chemicals, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, W.B.,India

Chilli (Capsicum annum) is an essential pillar of the cousines of India. Numerous varieties with variable degrees of pungen-cy are available in India.Dry and fresh chillies are used in var-


ious Indian sub-continent dishes.India is one of the largest pro-ducer of chilli in the world.In India the following diseases Anthracnose, BrownPatch , Fruit rot, Leafspot, Necrotic Ring Spot etc are very common during chilli cultivation. To control the above diseases three modern fungicides (Difenoconazole, tebuco-nazole and Azoxistrbin) was studied to determine the residual fate as well as degradation dynamics in chilli crop field situation in 2010-2011 at experimental research farm of BCKV, Mohanpur, WB, India. Difenoconazole 25% EC was applied in two doses 250 ml and500 mL per ha ;Tebuconazole 25.9% EC was applied in two treatments doses 750 mL and 1500 mL per ha and Azoxystrobin 23% SC was applied in two doses 500 mL and 1000 mL per ha. The residues of Difenoconazole , tebuconazole and Azoxystrobin in chilli fruits were determined finally by LC MS MS instrument. The residue of all the fungicides was found below the detectable limit. In all the cases, the residue gradually decreased with time following 1st order kinetics and the half live value ranges from 2.0-3.5 days. From this study it was clearly established that these fungicides will not create any residual problem and chilli fruits may be consumed safely.

Contact Information: Prof Anjan Bhattacharyya, Pesticide Residue Lab-oratory, Deptt. Of Agricultural Chemicals, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vis-wavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, W.B., India, Phone: =919433007139; Fax: 913325828460, Email: [email protected]

Effect of Organic Amendments on Shelf Life Qualities of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annum.Var. grossum) Fruits Grown Under Open and Shade House Condition

V. M Ganiger1, G. Bhuvaneswari1, J. C. Mathad2, and M. B. Mada-lageri1 1College of Horticulture, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot-587 102, Karnataka, India 2College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dhar-wad-580 005, Karnataka, India

A field experiment was conducted to know the effect of organic fer-tilizers on shelf life qualities of bell pepper grown in open and shade house condition at Agricultural Research Station, Gangavati, Koppal district, Karnataka, India. Split plot design with three replications was adopted with two bell pepper varieties viz., California Wonder (V1) and Gangavati Local (V2) as main plot treatments and nine com-pletely organic nutrient sources along with recommended package of practice nutrients and only recommended inorganic nutrients sources were used as sub plot treatments (O1 to O11).The fruits of bell pepper varieties grown under open and shade house condition with various organic sources of nutrients were subjected to storage under ambient conditions for a period of 16 days to know bio-chemical changes and their shelf life quality with respect to their colour and nutritional con-tents. Results revealed that, after the end of 16 days ambient storage, the fruits of California Wonder retained better colour value (1.95 and 2.03) than Local Variety (1.50 and 1.53) in open and shade house con-dition, respectively. TSS (5.37 0 Brix and 5.420 Brix), acidity (1.01 % and 1.05 %), ascorbic acid (190.05 mg/100mg and 200.60 mg/100mg), total sugars (13.57 % and 13.32 %) contents were superior in Cali-fornia Wonder fruits grown in open and shade house condition than Local Variety after 16 days of ambient storage. The fruits grown by the application of 100 % recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) through combination of 50 % Farm Yard Manure and 50 % poultry manure as basal dose in open and shade house condition were superior in re-taining the higher values with respect to TSS (5.54 0 Brix and 5.610 Brix), acidity (1.02 % and 1.13 %), ascorbic acid (182.80 mg/100g and 194.95 mg/100g), total sugars (13.55 % and 13.61 %) as well as fruit colour (1.92 and 2.16) even after the end of storage period. Irrespective of growing conditions, the quality of the fruits produced by supplying

various organic sources of nutrients was superior from their fruit color and other nutritional parameters than those grown inorganically.Contact information: Dr. G. Bhuvaneswari, Department of Foods and Nutrition, College of Horticulture, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagakot-587 102, Karnataka State, India. Phone: +91 8354-201604, Email: [email protected]

Physiological Responses of Grafted Pepper (Capsicum spp.) Plants to Water Stress

A. Calatayud 1,C. Penella1 , S.G. Nebauer2, A. San Bautista2 and S. López-Galarza2 1Departamento Horticultura. Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones agrarias (IVIA), Valencia, Spain.2Departamento Producción Vegetal, Universitat Politècnica València, Valencia, Spain.

Water stress is the most significant environmental stress in agri-culture and improving yield under drought is a major goal of plant breeding. Grafting a desirable variety onto a resistant rootstock would be an environment-friendly technique for avoiding or reduc-ing yield losses in a crop. Several Capsicum rootstocks, including commercial cultivars, bred lines and wild accessions, give appro-priate tolerance or resistance to biotic stress but there is little infor-mation about their tolerance to abiotic stresses such as water stress. In this work, we evaluated the physiological response of the sweet pepper cultivar “Lamuyo” grafted onto four pepper accessions (2 of Capsicum annuum L.: Serrano 2 and Piquillo IGP; 1 of Capsicum chinenses Jacq.: Chinense 2 and 1 of Capsicum baccatum Jacq.: Baccatum 2) compared with the ungrafted cultivar, under moderate and severe water stress induced by 3.5% and 7% polyethylene glycol (PEG) respectively in order to determine the threshold level and tol-erance provided by the tested rootstocks. Physiological traits includ-ing: chlorophyll fluorescence parameter (Fv/Fo), root and leaf nitrate reductase (NR) activities and membrane oxidative damage estimated as lipid peroxidation, were measured after 7 days from the addition of PEG. Different responses to water stress have been observed among accessions, but all grafted plants showed higher tolerance at moder-ate and severe water stress when compared to the ungrafted plants. The extent of the membrane damage gradually increased from con-trol to 7% PEG, but lipid peroxidation level was higher in ungrafted plants. The minor effect was showed when Serrano 2 and Chinense 2 were used as rootstocks. A similar response was observed in the Fv/Fo parameter. Nitrate reductase activity, a key enzyme responsi-ble for N assimilation, also decreased under water stress, but over-all, grafted plants exhibited higher NR activities. NR activity was modulated by the stress intensity and organ: under moderate water stress, the NR activity was higher in the leaves but at severe stress the maximum activity values occurs in the roots. In leaves of plants under 7% PEG the higher activity was observed in Serrano 2. These results are a step forward in the understanding the mechanism of water stress tolerance in grafted plants related to physiological processes.

Contact Information: Angeles Calatayud Chover, Departamento Horti-cultura, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Ctra. Moncada-Naquera km. 4,5. C. P. 46113 Moncada (Valencia), Spain., Phone (+34) 96 342 40 39, Email: [email protected]

Green Pesticides for the Management of Chilli (Bell Pepper) Pests

M.L.Chatterjee, Department of Agricultural Entomology Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India [email protected]

Chilli (bell pepper) is an important vegetable as well as spice crop in Indian Agriculture. Though India ranks first in the world with


reference to area and production of chilli, however the average pro-ductivity is very low in comparison to other countries. A major con-straint in chilli production is direct damage to fruit by Helicoverpa armigera, Spodoptera litura and damage by thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis) at vegetative growth of plants. As chilli is one of the most popular and profitable crop, farmers everywhere feel the need to pro-tect such high value crops from any type of damage caused by in-sect pests. They often use synthetic insecticides indiscriminately, and insect resistances to insecticides are very common in the tropics. To control chilli thrips and fruit borers efficiently two new organic pes-ticides spinetorum 12.5 SC (Spinosyn J 50% minimum and Spinosin L 50% maximum) and spinosad 45 SC (Spinosyn A 50% minimum and Spinosin D 50% maximum) with novel mode of action have been developed recently. To determine the effectiveness of these pesticides compared with traditional chemicals, two field experiments were done over two seasons. They compared five pesticides (Spinetorum 12.5 SC @ 40 & 60 g a.i., Spinosad 45 SC @ 50 & 75 g a.i., Chlorpyr-ifos 20 EC @ 350 g. a.i., Fipronil 5 SC @ 50 g a.i. and triazophos 40 EC @ 250 g a.i/ha) with untreated controls. All other agronomic practices were standard, and a blanket sprays to control mites was ap-plied when necessary. First spraying was done with the appearance of thrips and thereafter three sprays at fortnightly interval were followed. The results showed that both spinetorum and spinosad gave effective control of thrips in both seasons and also reflected in yield parameter. Similarly the fruit borer infestation was sharply reduced in spinetorum treated plot that was closely followed by spinosad and fipronil. They showed fewer hazards to natural enemies’ compared to untreated control and no any phytotoxicity was noted at any stages of the growth of crop. Spinosyns are naturally derived insecticide produced by fermentation of bacterium, Saccharopolyspora spinosa a rare actinomycete collect-ed from soil that has been synthetically modified and consists of a mixture of related spinosyn toxins, principally Spinosyn-J & L, A & D. They act as contact and stomach poison through a novel site in the nicotinic receptor that is distinct from neonicotinoids or any other nicotinic actives, disrupts the functions of GABA receptors of small neurons in the central nervous system1, 2 considered to be ‘fast-acting’ insecticide provides up to14 days of control have practically no odour, moderately strong soil absorption and degrades rapidly in the environ-ment. It offers excellent selectivity to beneficial organisms with low environmental risk to human beings and has potential use in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems.

References: 1. Thomson, G.D, Dutton, R and Sparks, T.C. 2000. Spinosad- a case study an example from a natural prod-ucts discovery programme. Pest Management Science, 56, 696-702.2. Crouse, G. D., Dripps, J. E., Orr, N., Sparks, T. C., and Waldron, C. 2007. DE-175 (Spinetoram), a new semisynthetic spinonsyn in development. Modern Crop Protection Chemistry. W. Kramer and U. Schirmer, eds. Wiley- VCH, Weinheim, Germany

Contact Information: Monilal Chatterjee, Phone: 913325809471, Email: [email protected]

‘New NMSU Ornamental Chile Pepper Varieties Add Color to the Holidays’Paul W. Bosland1 and Danise Coon2 1,2 Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces NM

There is a long history of chile pepper plants being given as holi-day gifts in the Southwest. In the 1800s and even up to the 1920s, people would give chile pepper plants as a Christmas plant because the peppers would have the red and green colors. Now, the holiday plant is usually a poinsettia, and ornamental chile was forgotten. The New Mexico State University Chile Breeding Program announces

the release of ‘Cinco de Mayo,’ ‘NuMex April Fool’s Day,’ ‘NuMex Chinese New Year’ and ‘NuMex Veteran’s Day.’ ornamental chile peppers (Capsicum annuum L.). Fruit ripens in different color tran-sitions for each variety giving the various plants value as commercial greenhouse pot plants as well as landscape accent plants. The color transitions of each variety also go along with the holiday for which they were named. Unlike standard chile pepper cultivars that have a di-chotomous growth pattern these new chile pepper varieties have poly-chotomous branching of the basal branches giving each plant a shorter, more compact growth habit, ideal for potted plants. The plants can be used in the same manner as traditional holiday plants, either placed around the house or as a table centerpiece. After the holiday, they can be planted outdoors as long as weather permits.

Contact Information: Danise Coon, Department of Plant and Envi-ronmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, PO Box 30003 MSC 3Q Las Cruces, NM 88003 USA, Phone: 575-646-3028; Fax: 575-646-6041, Email: [email protected]

‘Trinidad Moruga Scorpion is the World’s Hottest Chile Pepper at 2 Million Scoville Heat Units’

Paul W. Bosland1, Danise Coon2 and Greg Reeves3. 1,2,3 Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces NM This study was undertaken to establish heat levels for several high heat chile pepper (Capsicum chinense) varieties: ‘Trinidad Moruga Scor-pion,’ ‘Bhut Jolokia,’ ‘Trinidad Scorpion,’ ‘Douglah Trinidad Choc-olate,’ and ‘Trinidad 7-pot Jonah,’ in order to determine which chile pepper variety has the highest average heat level; and the relatedness of the chile peppers to one and another using molecular analysis. In replicated trials with appropriate controls at Las Cruces, N.M., results show two ‘Trinidad Moruga Scorpion’ chile pepper plants reached more than two million Scoville heat units (SHUs). This is the first confirmation of chile pepper fruit measuring more than two million SHUs. A large range of heat levels was observed among the field plots—further supporting strong environmental effects on chile pepper pungency. ‘Trinidad Moruga Scorpion’ was significantly hotter than ‘Bhut Jolokia,’ but ‘Trinidad 7-pot Jonah,’ ‘Douglah Trinidad Choc-olate’ and ‘Trinidad Scorpion’ did not differ significantly from ‘Bhut Jolokia.’ Molecular analysis with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers confirmed that the accessions are genetically unique. ‘Trinidad Moruga Scorpion’ belongs to the species Capsicum chinense Jacq. and is not the same chile pepper as ‘Bhut Jolokia.’

Contact Information: Danise Coon, Department of Plant and Envi-ronmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, PO Box 30003 MSC 3Q Las Cruces, NM 88003 USA, Phone: 575-646-3028; Fax: 575-646-6041, Email: [email protected]

Screening Peppers for Resistance to Leafminer (Liriomyza spp.)

K.M. Crosby1, D.I. Leskovar2, and J.L. Jifon3.1Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. 2Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Uvalde, TX. 3Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Weslaco, TX.

Leafminers (Liriomyza spp.) are a serious pest of commercial pepper cultivars in Texas and other warm regions. The predominant species in south Texas is L. trifolii, which occurred in 99% of traps dispersed across the Lower Rio Grande Valley region. Resistance to leafminers has been reported in other important crops such as melon. Resistance in peppers was observed in several field plots at Texas AgriLife Re-search Center at Weslaco among a planting of diverse germplasm ac-cessions, representing four Capsicum species. Experiments were thus carried out to identify specific accessions with uniform resistance and study the genetic inheritance of the resistance. The first experiment


consisted of 100 accessions of C. annuum, C. chinense, C. baccatum and C. frutescens, as well as 20 commercial cultivars. All plants were grown under commercial production conditions without any chemical control of leafminers. Three ratings were taken for leafminer infesta-tion throughout the season. The 12 accessions with the lowest num-bers of leafminers were then planted in a replicated trial at Weslaco. The highest levels of resistance were recorded in several accessions of C. chinense and C. baccatum. These averaged much less than one mine per leaf, with one accession having less than five mines per plant. Crosses between susceptible, elite C. annuum lines and four lines of C. chinense and C. baccatum were conducted in a greenhouse. Five inter-specific families were created and screened in the field. The most resistant progeny were utilized for selfing and backcrossing to the elite C. annuum types. Fertility and fruit quality were recovered in crosses between C. annuum and C. chinense PI 315017 much more quickly than with other families. Resistance in four lines derived from this family appears to have a significant dominant component and high her-itability. In one line inheritance fits a single dominant gene model, but in the others, the data is not conclusive.

Contact Information: Kevin M. Crosby, Vegetable and Fruit Im-provement Center, Texas A&M University, 1500 Research Pkwy Ste.120, College Station, TX, 77845, Phone (979)-845-7012, e-mail: [email protected].

Introducing a Collection of 215 of Vegetative Organ Pepper Mutants

G. Csilléry1

1Budakert Ltd., Budapest, Hungary

Little is known about pepper mutations that have a distinct phenotype, especially in comparison to other economically important species, such as the tomato. Regardless of their frequent use in the breeding practice, the gene map of pepper mutations still unknown. However, progress is expected in this field with the rapidly growing genomic data bases, notably the recently completed tomato genome project. We maintain nearly 300 mutant lines under different variety back-grounds. Notably, most of these mutations are recessive, except two, the Taphrina leaf (Tl) and the Soft fruit (S) mutations, which are dom-inant. The collection is based on our breeding work of the last 40 years, during which we analyzed more than half a million items of self pollinated plants. Contributions to this collection are welcome. We distinguished between two types of mutations: mutations that affect the vegetative or generative organs. Here, we present only the 215 mu-tations of vegetative organs that we group into four categories. In paren-thesis, we indicate the provisional names of independent mutations af-fecting the same phenotype. The names are provisional because some of these mutations are still to be confirmed as independent with an allele test. First, mutations related to the lack of anthocyanin in the hy-pocotyl, nodes and anthers: antocyanin less (al1-al5). Second, mutations related to the chlorophyll content: xantha (xa1-xa10), lutesces (lut1-lut65), yellow top (yt1-yt3), light sensitive mo-saic (lsm), mosaic (mos1-mos74), spotted leaf (spt), netted vein (net). Third, mutations that affect the form and the structure of the tis-sue of the leaf: brilliant leaf (bri), burned leaf (bur), callus (cal), canoe (ca), cross vein (cv), curled leaf (cur), datura leaf (dl), fan vein (fv), filiform (fi1- fi5), finger leaf (fil), frilly margin (fri), heart leaf (hl1-hl2), netted vein (net1-net2), pinched leaf top (plt), poly-cotyledon (pc1-pc3), round leaf (rl1-rl2), rugose (ru1-ru5), ru-gose extra (rex), scabrous diminutive (sd), small leaf (sml), Taph-rina leaf (Tl), viburnum leaf (vib), willow leaf (wil), wilty( wy). Fourth, mutations that affect the stem of the plant: corky root neck (crn), dwarf (dw1-dw6), fasciculate (fa), procumbent growing habit (prc), procumbent hypocotyl (ph1-ph2), puli (pul), pygmy (pyg), shep-herd’s rod (shr1-shr2), spinach leaf (spl), Soft fruit (S), tortuous (tor).

Morphological mutants have been traditionally used in hybrid seed production. The best mutants for such purposes exhibit their distinct phenotype soon after germination, preferably at the hypocotyl stage, so the hybrid origin of the seeds can be quickly identified. The most well known examples are the different anthocyanin less (al) mutants. Rugose (ru) mutants can also be used as markers, even though special light conditions are required to recognize this phenotype. The most useful phenotypic markers would be linked to male sterility, but so far, no such mutants have been found. The only strong linkage that we found was between the al1 mutation and the L gene responsible for TMV resistance.

Contact Information: Gabor Csillery, Budakert Ltd. 1114 Budapest, Bartok B. 41. HUNGARY, Email:[email protected]

Occurence of Resistance Breaking Strain of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus on Resistant Pepper Cultivars in Hungary

G. Csilléry,1 A. Almási2 and I. Tóbiás2

1Budakert Ltd. 2Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungari-an Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) has emerged as an important patho-gen in Hungary in 1995 when its most effective vector Frankliniella occidentalis was introduced from The Netherlands. Severe symptoms and considerable economical losses was observed on pepper and toma-to in vegetable growing region of Szentes and other regions of Hun-gary. The increasing problem of TSWV lead to cooperation between Budakert Ltd. (Hungary) and Esasem S.p.A. (Italy) to search for sourc-es of genetic resistance. In the frame of this work 58 lines of Capsi-cum sp., C. frutescens, C. chinense were inoculated and tested with Hungarian isolate of TSWV. Eight pepper lines showed similar resis-tance as C. chinense accession PI152225 and PI159236 as described by Black et al (1991). In the breeding program several homozigote resistant pepper lines were produced, but every year returning problem was that HR producing plants showed systemic symptoms after 20-40 days after inoculation. Testing the TSWV resistant hybrids obtainable in the market this problem was not observed. Resistance derived from these hybrids several lines were produced in conical white, long pale green hot and sweet, tomato shape, spice pepper and blocky types. In the market at the moment 8-10 F1 TSWV resistant hybrids of coni-cal white flesh type are accesible for the growers.It was wellknown that resistance breaking strain of TSWV is present on pepper in Italy, Spain and France. In 2011 sporadically, but in 2012 more frequantly was odserved resistance breaking strain of TSWV on resistant pepper cultivars in Szentes region (Hungary). The presence of new resistance breaking strain was demonstrated by virological (serological and test plants) methods. It is supposed that outbreaks of TSWV infection is due to the fact that protection against Frankliniella occidentalis was neglected and some effective pesticide (like Unifos 50 EC) were with-drawn. Our aim is to compare TSWV isolates and to search new genet-ic sources of resistance in Capsicum species.

Contact information: G. Csilléry, Budakert Ltd…1114 Budapest, Bartók Béla út 41. Phone:0036305651105, Fax:003612790093, E-mail: [email protected]

Heat Stress Amelioration by Shading Increases Fruit Yield and Quality in Bell Pepper (Capsicum annum L.) J. C. Diaz-Perez1, George Boyhan2, and Rajagopalbabu Srinivasan3

1Dept. of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA 31793-0748. 2Dept. of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 3 Dept. of Entomology, University of Georgia, Tifton Campus, Tifton, GA 31793-0748


Bell pepper is an important crop in the southeast United States. The fruit are commonly affected by physiological disorders, such as, sun-scald and blossom-end rot due to prevalence of high temperatures. The majority of bell pepper is grown on plastic film mulches. In the U.S., however, there is limited information on bell pepper production under shading. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of shading level on bell pepper yield and quality. Bell pepper plants were grown on silver reflective plastic film mulch in the spring of 2008-2010 under the following shading levels: 0% (unshaded, as a control), 30%, 47%, 60% and 80%. Our results showed that shading of bell pepper plants affected both fruit yield and quality. Total and market yields increased with increasing shading levels up to about 27% to 34% shading and then decreased with increasing shading levels, while cull yield decreased with increasing levels of shading. The reduced to-tal and marketable yields and increased cull yields of unshaded plants were probably due to high heat stress. Moderate shading (ca. 30%) of bell pepper may reduce heat stress and incidence of physiological disorders.

Contact Information: J.C. Diaz-Perez, Dept. of Horticulture, Universi-ty of Georgia, Tifton, GA 31793-0748. Email: [email protected]

Role of Blossom in Bell-Pepper Seed Infection by Xanthomonas euvesicatoria

Bhabesh Dutta, R.D. Gitaitis, F.H. Sanders, C. Booth, S. Samuel, and D. LangstonDepartment of Plant Pathology, Coastal Plain Research Station, Uni-versity of Georgia, Tifton, GA

The role of blossom inoculation in bell-pepper seed infestation by X. euvesicatoria was investigated. Additionally, the ability of X. euves-icatoria to colonize pepper blossoms, and the relationship between blossom inoculum dosage and seed infestation were also explored.One hundred percent (n = 95) of fruits developed from blossoms inoc-ulated with 106 colony forming units (CFU) of X. euvesicatoria (Xcv 04-100) per blossom were asymptomatic. Using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), X. euvesicatoria was detected in 39.0% (37/95) of the seed lots assayed, despite the lack of fruit symptoms. Further-more, viable colonies were recovered from 35.0% (33/95) of the seed lots. Of these lots, 16.0% (15/95) also yielded seedlings expressing bacterial leaf spot symptoms, when planted under conditions of 28°C and 70% relative humidity. In a separate experiment under greenhouse conditions, X. euvesicatoria colonized stigmas and styles of pepper blossoms reaching populations of 106 to 107 CFU per blossom after 96h of blossom inoculation. The bacterium also colonized stylar and ovary tissues with populations ranging from 105-106 CFU after 96h of blossom inoculation. A strong positive correlation between X. euves-icatoria inoculum concentration applied to the blossoms and the per-centage of infested seedlots, as determined by the real-time PCR (R2 = 0.97; P = 0.001) was also observed. Blossom inoculation with 1×101

and 1 × 103 X. euvesicatoria CFU/blossom led to 14.5% and 38.0% of infested seedlots within symptomless fruits, respectively. In contrast, 1×105 and 1 × 107 X. euvesicatoria CFU/blossom resulted in 52.5% and 66.7% infested seedlots, respectively, within symptomless fruits. The ability to penetrate pepper blossoms was not unique to X. euvesi-catoria, as blossoms inoculated with Acidovorax citrulli (causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch in cucurbits) also resulted in infested pepper seedlots. These observations suggest that pepper blossoms can be a potential site of ingress for seed infestation by X. euvesicatoria.

Contact Information: Dr. Bhabesh Dutta, 2360 Rainwater Road, De-partment of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA 31793, Phone: (706) 296-1495, Email: [email protected]

Chile Pepper Juice Supports the Growth of Salmonella Typh-imurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7

Jorge A. Beall1, Ruben Zapata1, and Willis M. Fedio1

1Food Safety Laboratory, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003

The presence of enteric pathogens has always a major concern in fresh produce. Numerous outbreaks of produce related foodborne disease have been associated with the consumption of product contaminat-ed with Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli O157:H7. This study examines if chile peppers can promote growth of enteric pathogens by artificially contaminating jalapeno, anaheim, and habanero juice and monitoring the behavior of the inoculated organisms over time. Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 14028 or Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 35150 (500 cfu/g of chile juice) was used for inoculation. The inoculated juice was incubated at 37°C. Samples were taken every two hours for 12 hours and again at 24 hours. Salmonella Typhimuri-um was enumerated with Trypticase Soy Agar + 0.6% Yeast Extract (TSAYE), Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate agar (XLD), and Hektoen agar (HE). Escherichia coli O157:H7 was quantified using Trypticase Soy Agar + 0.6% Yeast Extract (TSAYE), Tellurite Cefixine- Sorbitol Mac-Conkey agar (TC-SMAC) and E. coli O157 Chromogenic agar (R&F). Counts of both Salmonella Typhimurium and Escherich-ia coli O157:H7 increased from the initial inoculum (~500 cfu/ml) to up to 108 cfu/g over the incubation period. Extracted clarified juice from jalapeno, Anaheim, and habanero pep-pers were shown to support the growth of enteric pathogens such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7 under optimal conditions. Future experiments are planned to examine if processed chile prod-ucts, and mechanically damaged chile peppers will support the growth of these pathogens.

Contact Information: Willis Fedio, Phone: 575-646-7352, Email: [email protected]

Enumeration, Isolation and Characterization of Lactic Acid Bac-teria from Fermented Chile Pepper (Capsicum annuum cv. Mesilla Cayenne) Mash

J.A. Beall1, N.C. Flores2 and W.M. Fedio1

1Food Safety Laboratory, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 2Extension Home Economics, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

Fermented chile pepper mash (Capsicum annuum cv. Mesilla Cay-enne) is a major industrial food product in New Mexico. The fermen-tation of chile pepper mash depends on temperature, acidity, salt con-centration, dissolved air, available carbohydrates and enzymes. The microbial flora involved in pepper mash fermentation has not been ful-ly characterized and was the focus of this work. The objective of this study was to evaluate the microbial characteristics of fermented chile pepper mash by enumeration, isolation and characterization of lactic acid bacteria involved in the process. Five gal buckets were prepared with cayenne peppers that had been washed and ground by the manufacturer, each with 15% sodium chlo-ride added. Samples were stored at room temperature and sampled over a 3 month period to examine changes in the microflora. Chile mash samples were serially diluted in Butterfield’s Phosphate Buffer for enumeration of the microflora. Streptococci were enumerat-ed on M17 agar while lactobacilli were determined on acidified MRS (pH 5.4) agar. Presumptive streptococci were identified using the API STREP and lactobacilli with the API 50CH test systems. The levels of each of the microorganisms examined declined over time. Lactic acid bacteria isolated from the mash included Lactoba-cillus plantarum, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Leuconostoc citreum,


Lactococcus lactis, Streptococcus oralis, Streptococcus mitis, Strep-tococcus salivarius, Streptococcus sanguinis, and Enterococcus fae-cium. Further studies to determine their suitability as starter organisms could improve the fermentation process.


Microbiological Safety of Flame Roasted New Mexico Green Chile Peppers Paul Browning1, Ruben Zapata1, Jorge Beall1, David Lucero2, and Willis M. Fedio1

1New Mexico State University, Food Safety Laboratory, Las Cruces, NM 88003 2New Mexico Department of Agriculture, Marketing and Develop-ment Division, Las Cruces, NM 88003

New Mexico produces popular and highly desirable domestic fresh green chiles and their popularity is increasing on the national fresh vegetable market. Commonly, green chile peppers are purchased di-rectly from the grower at roadside markets, from farmers markets or through retail outlets, such as grocery stores. As a post-purchase con-venience to consumers, many local markets set up a “chile roaster” near the point of purchase to ‘blister’ the chile for about 5 minutes and thus make it easier for the consumer to process, package and store the chile. This blistering process has been practiced, in some form, for hundreds of years in the American Southwest. Three series of experiments were conducted to examine the micro-biology of chile roasting. (1) The microflora of commercially roasted green chile peppers was examined over an 8 hr abusive temperature storage period. (2) Local commercial pepper flame roasters were sur-veyed and temperatures achieved during the process were established. (3) The survival of Salmonella on artificially contaminated peppers that were roasted was examined. For the Salmonella inactivation study, green chile peppers were weighed individually and then artificially contaminated with 4 µl of a concentrated Salmonella suspension per g of pepper. Droplets of the suspension were evenly spaced onto the surface of the chiles. The inoculated peppers were allowed to dry in a biosafety cabinet for ~2 h prior to further investigations. Twenty inoculated chiles were trans-ferred to a custom built lab-scale roaster and then flame roasted for five minutes until they were blistered on the surface, as is commonly done commercially in supermarket parking lots After roasting, the surface temperature of representative chiles was measured with an infrared thermometer.To evaluate roasting for inactivation of Salmonella spp. on chile pep-pers, five trials were conducted. For each experiment, the microflo-ra of uninoculated chile peppers was examined by conducting plate counts on TSAYE for total counts, and XLD for Salmonella on the peppers. For enumeration of injured salmonellae, plating on Brain Heart Infusion Agar for 1h followed by overlaying the agar with tem-pered XLD agar was used. For each roasting trial two peppers that were inoculated and then roasted were also enriched for Salmonella spp. using the FDA BAM procedure.Flame roasting of green chile peppers is effective in reducing bacterial contaminants on fresh green chile peppers. In excess of five log reduc-tions of salmonellae were shown by the plating experiments, but the enrichment studies indicated a 7 log reduction in counts.


Real-Time PCR for Detection of Shiga Toxin Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in Dried Red Chile

W.M. Fedio, P.E. Browning and R. Zapata

New Mexico State University, Food Safety Laboratory, Las Cruces, NM 88003 Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli have been linked to outbreaks and sporadic cases of illness worldwide. Since the num-ber of illnesses caused by these organisms in the United States ap-pears to be on the increase, some of these organisms may be emerging pathogens.

There is little published information on the prevalence of STEC in spices or methods for their determination.In the current US FDA pro-cedure for detection of STEC and E. coli O157:H7 samples are en-riched in modified Buffered Peptone Water (mBPWp) for 5h at 37ºC, then selective agents acriflavin (10mg/l), cefsulodin (10mg/l), and vancomycin (8mg/l) are added and the broths are incubated at 42°C for an additional 18h. Samples are first screened for stx1 and stx2 and uidA 93 mutation. Samples positive for stx1 and stx2 and uidA 93 are further tested for E. coli O157:H7. However, samples positive for stx1 and stx2 and negative for uidA 93 are streaked to L-EMB and confirmed by biochemical tests PCR and/or serology. Confir-mation by serology is limited by availability of antisera for many of the important serotypes involved in foodborne disease outbreaks. The purpose of this study was to examine various procedures for de-tection of STEC O157 and non O157 STEC in dried red chile powder.


Conservation Biological Control Program for Western Flower Thrips in Pepper

Stuart Reitz1, Joe Funderburk2, and Gene McAvoy3

A biologically based integrated pest management program is funda-mental in preventing the development of insecticide resistance, resur-gence of western flower thrips populations, and replacement with non-target pest damage. The conservation biological control component of the integrated pest management program is the most effective way to manage thrips in pepper. Species of Anthocoridae are the most import-ant worldwide predators of thrips. Within this family are minute pirate bugs with two species in Florida, Orius insidiosus (Say) and Orius pumilio (Champion), that are the key natural enemies of thrips in pep-per. The minute pirate bugs are a valuable tool for controlling thrips as they prey preferentially on the adults of the western flower thrips over the adults of the n on-damaging native thrips species. The thrips larvae are preferred prey. About one minute pirate bug for every 180 thrips is sufficient for suppression of the populations of thrips. At a ratio of about one predator to 40 thrips, thrips populations are controlled. Nat-ural populations of minute pirate bugs are highly vagile. The adults rapidly invade pepper fields in Florida in sufficient numbers to control western flower thrips adults and larvae, but they must be conserved with judicious insecticide use.1Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Agri-cultural Research Service, USDA, 6383 Mahan Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32308, [email protected] 2North Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 155 Research Road, Quincy. Florida 32351, [email protected] 3University of Florida Hendry County Extension, PO Box 68, LaBelle, Florida 33975, [email protected]

Contact Information: Joe Funderburk, Phone: 850-875-7100 ext.146, Email: [email protected]

Vertically Integrated IPM Program for Western Flower Thrips and Tospoviruses in Pepper

Joe Funderburk1 and Gene McAvoy2


1North Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 155 Research Road, Quincy. Florida 32351, [email protected] of Florida Hendry County Extension, PO Box 68, LaBelle, Florida 33975, [email protected]

The spread of the western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) resulted in the worldwide de-stabilization of established integrated pest management programs for many crops. Efforts to control the pest and the thrips-vectored tospo-viruses with calendar applications of broad-spectrum insecticides have been unsuccessful. The result has been a classic 3-R situation: resis-tance to numerous insecticides, resurgence of the western flower thrips populations as a result of natural predators and native competitor thrips being eliminated, and replacement by various other pests. Here we re-port on integrated pest management programs for fruiting vegetables that are effective, economical, ecologically sound, and sustainable. The components include the following: define pest status (economic thresholds), increase biotic resistance (natural enemies and competi-tion), integrate preventive and therapeutic tactics (scouting, ultravio-let-reflective technologies, biological control, compatible insecticides, companion plants, and fertility), vertically integrate the programs with other pests, and continuously communicate with end-users. The pro-grams have been widely implemented in Florida, and have significant-ly improved management of western flower thrips and thrips-transmit-ted viruses.

Contact Information: Joe Funderburk, Phone: 850-875-7100 ext.146, Email: [email protected]

Effect of Organics on the Growth and Yield Parameters of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annum var. grossum) Under Open and Shade House Condition

V. M. Ganiger1, J. C. Mathad2, M. B. Madalageri1, H. B. Babalad2, and G.Bhuvaneswari1

1College of Horticulture, University of Horticultural Sciences, Karnataka, India 2College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Karnataka, India

An investigation was carried out to study the effect of organic amend-ments on bell pepper yield under open and shade house condition at Agricultural Research Station, Gangavati, Koppal district, Karnataka, India. Split plot design with three replications was adopted with two bell pepper varieties viz., California Wonder (V1) and Gangavati Lo-cal (V2) as main plot treatments and nine completely organic nutrient sources along with recommended package of practice nutrients and only recommended inorganic nutrient sources were used as sub plot treatments (O1 to O11). With respect to flowering, the performance of California Wonder was superior in terms of days taken from fruit set to harvest in open and shade house condition(39.54 and 32.98 days, re-spectively). Among the nutrient sources O5, the FYM (50%) + poultry manure (50%) equivalent to 100 % RDN (basal) treatment was found to be superior with respect to growth parameters viz., plant spread (45.83 and 53.06 cm), number of primary branches (2.61 and 2.15), and sec-ondary branches (7.58 and 6.99) and stem girth (1.17cm and 1.22 cm). The plants under this treatment also took least number of days for fruit set (41.36 and 34.35 days). The variety California Wonder performed better with respect to yield in open and shade house (16.92 and 20.21 t/ha, respectively) condition than Local Variety (12.91 and 16.18 t/ha, respectively). The application of 100 % recommended dose of ni-trogen (RDN) through combination of 50 % FYM and 50 % poultry manure (O5) as basal dose recorded significantly higher fruit yield of bell pepper in open (16.33 t/ha) and shade house (19.89 t/ha) condi-tion. Among the interactions O5 recorded significantly higher yield in open (18.47 t/ha) and shade house (22.68 t/ha) condition in California

Wonder variety and least yield was recorded in inorganic treatments.

Contact Information: Dr. V. M. Ganiger, Department of Vegetable Sci-ence, College of Horticulture, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagakot-587 102, Karnataka State, India. Phone: +91 8354-201604, Email: [email protected]

Ecosafe Integrated Weed Management of Chilli in Gangetic India

R.K. Ghosh, A. Chakraborty, K. Mondal and D. Pal

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is one of the important spices grown in Gangetic India during winter season. It is using as vegetables, salad etc. besides having its medicinal properties. The productivity gap in farmers’ field is around 30 % as against the research field mainly be-cause of poor weed management. The average loss of Chilli production due to weeds is around 70 % in India. The traditional HW is becoming lesser preferred by the farmers not only for increasing labour wages (50 % more in the last three years) but also their timely unavailabil-ity in critical crop weed competition stage. Using Organic chemical herbicides through System Intensification is one of the alternate solu-tions of replacing traditional HW. Organic safer herbicides have also certain ill effects on environment particularly on soil microflora if not apply in proper time and doses. Chilli (rabi) – Black gram (summer) - Jute / Aus Rice (kharif) is one of the most suitable crop sequences for up medium lands. Black gram (kalai) is a short duration legume crop, having the advantages of 20-24 % protein, direct consumption as pulse, preparation of idly, dhosa, tarka etc. Hence Field experiments conducted at the Viswavidyalaya farm at Kalyani, Nadia (2005-10) & at Sekhampur, Birbhum (2011-12), West Bengal to study Bioefficacy and Phytotoxicity of PE application of Oxyfluorfen 23.5% EC @ 200 g a.i ha-1 and Pendimethalin 30% EC @ 1000 g ha-1 ; POE application of Propaquizafop 10 EC @ 75 g a.i ha-1, Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl @ 67.5 g ha-1, Quizalofop-ethyl @ 37.5 g ha-1 and Propaquizafop 5% + Oxy-flourfen 12% EC mixture @ 50 + 120 g a.i ha-1 at 20 DAS in Chilli cv. Bullet and its effect on the succeeding crop black gram cv. Basant ba-har (PDU-1). In all these treatments one wheel hoe (mechanical weed-ing) was added at 30 DAS for PE and 40 DAS for POE herbicides. Weedy check and hand weeding twice at 20 & 40 DAS were the other two treatments. The results showed all the herbicide treatments record-ed significantly higher yield over the weedy check and statistically at par Chilli green yield with twice HW. The WCE in herbicide treated plots showed 20-70% while Chilli productivity was increased by more than 40 % as against weedy check. No phytotoxicity in Chilli plants and also in follow up Black gram was observed against any herbicides. The soil microflora status in Chilli field showed an initial detrimental effect in all herbicide treated plots which lasts maximum three weeks after application and thereafter showed gradual increase up to harvest. From this experiment it may be recommended that for Chilli organic chemical herbicides combining with a mechanical weeding can be an alternative of costly traditional HW without affecting the soil healt

Contact Information: Prof. Rati Kanta Ghosh, FAPS, FIWS, RAISWS, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV),Mohanpur – 741252, Nadia, West Bengal email: [email protected]/[email protected]; Cell - 91 9433145340

Fertigation and Foliar Fertility on Nutrient Status and Yield of Bell Pepper Capsicum annuum L.

Christopher C. Gunter1, Christopher J. Biai1, Jose G. Garzon1, Jonathan R. Schultheis1, Ronald J. Gehl2, 1Department of Horticultural Science, North Carolina State Universi-ty, Raleigh, NC 2Department of Soil Science, North Carolina State University, Mills River, NC


Soil application of fertilizers is a common and effective way to deliver plant nutrients and achieve maximum economic crop yields. However, foliar fertilization is frequently used by commercial growers who view it as a potentially economical and effective method of nutrient deliv-ery. A field study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of three different approaches of soil-applied fertilizer regimes with a combina-tion of three different foliar programs on nutrient status and yield of bell peppers. Twelve different treatment combinations were arranged in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. Preplant (PRE) treatments consisted of 100% nutrients applied prior to trans-planting; Split (SP) treatments, consisted of 50% nutrient applied pri-or to transplanting and 50% of nutrients applied post-planting as liquid fertigation; and Liquid Fertigation (LF) treatments consisted of 100% nutrient applied post-planting, all in combinations with three different foliar application schedules. The three foliar application schedules included Foliar Program 1 (FP1), which used conventional chelated minerals, and Foliar Program 2 (FP2) and Foliar Program 3 (FP3) which used Metalosate chelated minerals. Programs FP1 and FP2 were delivered on a calendar schedule, while FP3 was delivered based on the results of foliar tissue (leaf) nutrient analysis. Early yields from SP and LF treated plots were significantly greater than PRE while late yields were only greater for SP compared with PRE treatment com-binations. Total yield (Early + Late) for SP and LF were significantly greater than PRE. Generally, the FP2 and FP3 treated plots tended to have the greatest yields when used with SP and LF compared with the non-foliar and FP1, however statistical differences were not measured. A strong linear relationship (R2 = 0.90) between mean leaf N concen-tration at the first flowering stage and mean early yield was observed, indicating a potential means for predicting early yield in bell pepper. Regardless of the foliar application from Foliar Program 1, 2, or 3, no yield advantage was obtained.

Contact Information: Christopher C. Gunter, Department of Horti-cultural Science, 230 Kilgore Hall, Box 7609, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7609. Phone: 919-513-2807; Fax: 919-515-2505, Email: [email protected]

Research-based Online Chile Pepper (Capsicum spp.) Resources for Master Gardeners

W.V. Hamilton1

1Cooperative Extension Service, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

The reputation of the Extension Master Gardener (MG) program large-ly depends on the accuracy of the information presented by Master Gardener volunteers. Given the vast number of horticulture topics and using a ‘divide and concur’ approach, Master Gardener volunteers can specialize in a subject area to provide clientele with high value, fo-cused expertise. Master Gardeners who specialize in Capsicum spp. will find the Chile Pepper Institute’s newly refreshed website www.chilepepperinstitute.org a plethora of research-based information and best management practices on chile pepper cultivation, varieties, pol-lination, disorders, pests, diseases, harvesting, processing, preserving, seed sources, garden to table delights, and much more.

Contact Information: Wendy V. Hamilton, Cooperative Exten-sion Service, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environ-mental Sciences, MSC 3AE, Box 30003, Gerald Thomas Hall #295, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces NM 88003-8003, 575-646-5284, [email protected]

Current Studies on Management of Pepper Yellow Leaf Curl Disease in Indonesia

Sri Hendrastuti Hidayat, Purnama Hidayat, Bagus Kukuh Udiarto Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agri-

cultural University, Bogor, Indonesia

Whitefly-transmitted geminiviruses (Begomovirus) have become ma-jor constraints to production in crops throughout the world. Begomo-virus cause serious disease problems in vegetable and fiber crops and are considered an important group of pathogens. Beginning in the early 2000’s, numerous epidemics of pepper yellow leaf curl disease caused by members of Begomovirus occurred throughout Indonesia, especially in Java. These epidemics resulted in complete crop losses in some cases and causing farmers ceased planting the crops. Appli-cation of low- to medium-input crop management has been evaluated for adequate control of vector and alternate host. Cultural practices intentionally employed for controlling PYLC disease is a system using border crops. Planting border crops, such as maize or other crop plants, has demonstrated some value in reducing virus incidence. It functions both as a physical barrier to restrict movement of insect vector, Bemis-ia tabaci, and as a reservoir for beneficial insects. Field research was conducted in Yogyakarta, Central Java to study the effect of maize, crotalaria, and screen border in combination with the use of screen in nursery to population of B. tabaci and incidence of PYLC disease. The use of screen in the nursery was able to protect the seedling from B. ta-baci and delay virus infection for 2 weeks . Population of B. tabaci was significantly lower in plot with combination of border crops (maize, crotalaria) and the use of screen in the nursery. Positive correlation between population of B. tabaci and disease incidence was observed (r = 0.925), where as correlation between disease incidence and yield crop was negative (r = - 0.8886). Border crops especially maize could also enhance the abundance of predator species, such as Menochilus sexmaculatus, Coccinella transversalis and Verania lineata. Further studies involving application of insecticides and plant growth induc-er integrated with the border crops showed better management of the disease.

Contact Information: Sri Hendrastuti Hidayat, Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural University, Jalan Kamper, Darmaga Campus, Bogor 16680, Indonesia; Phone: 011 62 251 8629364; Fax: 011 62 251 8629362; Email: [email protected]

Evaluation of Hot Peppers for Antioxidant Quality under Differ-ent Storage Conditions

Qumer Iqbal1, Muhammad Amjad1 and Muhammad Rafique Asi2

1Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisal-abad, Pakistan 2Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Pakistan

Hot pepper is one of the favorite spices consumed in Pakistan. An in-creasing interest is being paid to the red hot pepper spice not only because of its economical importance but also due to its diversified composition. In Pakistan, dry hot peppers are normally stored in jute bags but in mega stores they are available in polyethylene bags. Stud-ies were conducted to assess antioxidant stability of dry hot pepper namely Sky Red, Maha and Wonder King stored for five months under controlled conditions at 20, 25 and 30°C respectively in jute bags and 9 µm thick polyethylene bags (20 x 32 cm). All samples were analyzed for total carotenoids, ascorbic acid and total phenolic contents before storage and after every 50 days interval. Hot peppers differ significantly with respect to their antioxidant po-tential and gradual decrease was recorded in their concentration under different storage conditions. Total carotenoids were highest in Wonder King (111.83 mg 100g-1) while it was 91.16 and 83.53 mg 100g-1 re-spectively in Sky Red and Maha. After 150 days storage, reduction in total carotenoids concentration was more in Maha (22%) while it was 15 and 14% respectively in Sky Red and Wonder King. Similarly, their


degradation was maximum (22%) at 30ºC as compared to 16 and 12% respectively at 25 and 20ºC after five months storage. Ascorbic acid concentration was on the higher side (44.3 mg 100g-1) in Wonder King as compared to 41.12 and 35.41 mg 100g-1 respectively in Sky Red and Maha. Hot peppers had inverse relation with their ascorbic acid concentration after 150 days storage and it was significantly reduced (26%) in Wonder King followed by 22 and 19 % respectively in Sky Red and Maha. However, reduction in ascorbic acid concentration was maximum (35%) at 30ºC in Wonder King as compared to 33 and 28% in Maha and Sky Red but the observed pattern at 20ºC in these hybrids was 15, 12 and 15%. A steep decrease in ascorbic acid concentration was recorded in hot peppers between 100-150 days storage period. Significant variation was observed in hot peppers for total phenolic contents (mg 100g-1) i.e. 67.92 in Maha, 59.34 in Sky Red and 41.25

in Wonder King. However, significant reduction in total phenolic con-tents was seen in Wonder King (33%) at 30ºC but in case of Maha and Sky Red it was 24 and 12%, respectively. Similarly between 100-150 days storage period, maximum decrease (6-7%) was recorded in total phenolic contents. Overall results indicated that hot peppers are ther-mal-sensitive in nature and their concentration decreased significantly during five months at different temperature regimes in both packaging materials. However, all hybrids manifested greater antioxidant stabili-ty in polyethylene bags than jute bags after five months storage.

Contact Information: Qumer Iqbal, Institute of Horticultural Scienc-es, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan, Email: [email protected]

Artificial Capillary Barrier Improves Root-Zone Conditions for Horticultural Crops. Response of Pepper Plants to Matric Head and Irrigation Water Salinity

Eviatar Ityel1, Naftali Lazarovitch1, Moshe Silberbush1 and Alon Ben-Gal2

1Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Insti-tute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer campus, Israel.2Department of Environmental Physics and Irrigation, Agricultural Research Organization, Gilat Research Center.

Capillary barriers (CBs) occur at the interface of two soil lay-ers having distinct differences in textural and hydraulic charac-teristics. The primary objective of this study was to introduce an artificial CB, created by a layer of gravel below the root zone substrate, in order to optimize conditions for the cultivation of hor-ticultural crops. A secondary objective was to test the hypothesis that the increased soil matric head created by CB would improve plant production, especially when irrigated with brackish water. Potential root zone formats were analyzed with and without the gravel CBs for variables including: depth of CB; barrier separating the root zone from the surrounding soil; and root zone soil texture. Field and lysimeter studies were conducted with bell pepper (Cap-sicum annuum) plants, comparing root-zones with and without an underlying CB and irrigated at various rates with either desalinat-ed (DW, EC = 0.2 dSm-1) or brackish (SW, EC = 3.8 dSm-1) water. Field and simulated results revealed that artificial CBs increased root zone water content and changed water flow dynamics. Plants grown above a CB, when irrigated with SW, yielded 24% higher biomass than control plants for all irrigation applications, but when DW was irrigat-ed, only a 6% advantage for the CB root-zone was observed. Biomass yield for the root-zone containing a CB was only slightly affected by water salinity, while yields significantly decreased when irrigated with SW in the control. The extent of water uptake, plant growth and yield responses to the presence of a CB were found to be climate dependent.

When VPD was low, smaller responses were measured, while more pronounced response was found when VPD increased. Ityel, E., Lazarovitch, N., Silberbush, M. and Ben-Gal, A. (2012) An artificial capillary barrier to improve root-zone conditions for horti-cultural crops: response of pepper plants to matric head and irriga-tion water salinity. Agric. Water Manage. 105:13-20. DOI:10.1016/j.agwat.2011.12.016.

Contact Information: Eviatar Ityel. Phone: 972-56-241520; Fax: 972-8581-235, Email: [email protected]

Productivity, Plant Architecture, and Special Nutritional Qualities of Selected Hot Pepper Breeding Lines

Mohammad Jalaluddin1 and Shahidul Islam1

1Department of Agriculture, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, AR

Hot peppers (Capsicum annum L.) are popular spicy ingredients used as condiments in food preparation worldwide. They also have special nutritional and medicinal qualities. Breeding research conducted at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) has generated a large number of genotypes expressing a wide array of important agronomic and pigmentation characteristics. Field experiments were conducted on 26 hot pepper breeding lines to determine the relationship between plant architecture and pepper yield. Also, laboratory analyses were conducted on 12 of the elite lines for their phytochemical contents. Plant architecture was defined by the height of the plant and vol-ume of the fruit-bearing canopy. The canopy volume is a function of branching characteristics and the angle of branching from the base-node. Plant canopy volumes were moderately correlated (r = 0.75) with the total number of berries/plant but not so on the total fruit weight (r = 0.55). Pepper yield was strongly correlated with the prima-ry branching (r = 0.87) and more so with the secondary branching (r = 0.91), indicating that canopy-density may be a more reliable parame-ter than canopy-volume in determining plant productivity. The pepper berries were harvested and analyzed at two maturity stages (green and red-ripe). Dried pepper samples at the red-ripe stage had a consider-ably higher content of bioactive compounds that exhibited significant higher antioxidant activities (26−80 μmol trolox equivalents/g of dry matter), polyphenols (>2000 mg/100 g of dry matter), and capsaicin (95−437 mg/100 g of dry matter). However, the ascorbic acid contents were higher in the green samples compared with the red-ripe samples. Across the genotypes, a high correlation was found between total polyphenol content and the antioxidant activity. The great variability within and among hot pepper genotypes for these phytochemicals sug-gests that selected elite lines may be useful as parents in the breeding programs aiming at producing peppers with value-added traits in the fresh peppers as well as processed products such as pickle, sauce, paste or powder.

Contact Information: Mohammad Jalaluddin, Department of Agriculture, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, 1200 North University Drive, Mail Slot 4913, Pine Bluff, AR 71601, Phone: (870) 575-8117/8526. Email: [email protected]

Potassium Fertilization Effects on Jalapeño Pepper Yield an Quality

J.L. Jifon1, K. Crosby2, D.I. Leskovar3, G.E. Lester4. 1Texas AgriLife Research, VFIC, Department of Horticultural Scienc-es, Texas A&M System, Weslaco, TX 78596 2College Station, TX 3Uvalde, TX; 4USDA-ARS Beltsville, MD.

The effects of application rate (0-120 kg/ha) and source of potassium (K as KCl or K2SO4) fertilizer on yield and quality of Jalapeño (Cap-sicum annuum L.) peppers were investigated in field experiments on


a highly calcareous soil (pH 8.2). Fruit yield responses to fertilization with KCl and K2SO4 were similar at low application rates (40 kg K/ha). However, at medium and higher K application rates, yields were significantly higher for K2SO4 than KCl. The optimal fertilization rate with K2SO4 was about 70 kg K/ha. The highest fruit yields for plants fertilized with KCl were attained at relatively low fertilization rates (45 kg K/ha). Internal and External fruit firmness also increased with K fertilization, with the relative effect being more significant with K2SO4 fertilization. Average number of fruits per plant, fruit mass, and seed mass per fruit also followed similar trends as fruit yield. Chloride toxicity probably accounted for an observed reduction in yields and quality attributes at higher fertilization rates with KCl (>150 kg/ha). The observed quality improvements (e.g. firmness) are expected to enhance retail shelf life, suitability for processing, and eating quality.

Genetic Divergence and Grouping of a Collection of Chilli Culti-vars of C. annuum, C. fruitescens and C.chinense

Nilima Karmakar, J. Tarafdar and S.K. SamantaDirectorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra KrishiViswavidyalaya (State Agricultural University) Kalyani 741235, W.B.INDIA

A collection of twenty two cultivars of chilli pepper comprising sweet peppers including two sweet cony varieties, common hot peppers bul-let and others, bird’s eye chilli accession ‘Mousinram’ ,Dollekhursani from Nepal , Golden habanero, White habanero from personal collec-tion , Naga jolokia and its variants from Nagaland collection plus a few other lines established through pure line selection were consid-ered for the present study. The cultivars were selected based on their distinct fruit- morphological characters. Ten different micro satellite markers were used for the study, among which 5 primers namely CAMS-070, CAMS-117, CAMS-348, CAMS-864 and CAMS-101 revealed highly polymorphic bands. The cluster analysis was done by NTsysPC software using SHAN method. The dendogram showed three different clusters. The first cluster comprised all the sweet papers except Bhut (a common vegetable type collected from Bhutan), SB (Sukhi bullet- a variant of Bullet chilli) and Choco (a pure line selec-tion from a cross between a sweet pepper and highly pubescent line, species unidentified). On the other hand, though in the second cluster, HO (Habanero orange) and Ghia (Ghiabombai, a scented collection of C.chinense) appeared in the same group and showed 96% similarity in spite of their distinctly different geographical source of collection. In the third cluster, Dol (Dollo) and Msn (Mousinram) showed 85% and 81% similarity respectively with Kmp (Kalimpong wrinkle, a white, sweet, erect fruit type, species unidentified from Darjeeling).This was observed as comparatively higher similarity among the three except the other 19 genotypes. Further a set of micro satellite markers were used and genetic diversity and similarity matrix were analyzed among the test varieties of chilli pepper. This paper also highlights the ge-netic relatedness among C. annum, C. chinensis and C. fruitescence analyzed by Darwin 5 package. It was evident from studies that the variety Kmp (Kalimpong wrinkle) was observed neither very close nor very distinctly different from all other genotypes, though emerged as a single group comprises varieties of same geographical location (Dar-jeeling Hills). The predictive linkages will lead to a valuable breeding program for genetic improvement of chilli pepper and verification of pedigree method. However, hybridization between mc2 X kj (kohi-majalokia), bhut (bhutanchilli) X HO, cla (Claus) X HO and Ghia X cla may give rise new distinct combinations as they are much more distinct to each other.

Contact Information: Nilima Karmakar, Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal, 741252, INDIA, Phone: 91-33-25823948; Fax: 91-33-25828407 e-mail: [email protected]

Chemical Quality Component Contents of Selections for Adapt-ability to Korea in 4 Species of Capsicum

B. S. Kim1, H.S. Mo1, S.Y. Kim1, K.S. Jang2, J.E. Hwang2, and S.K. Jeon2

1Department of Horticulture, Kyungpook National Univiersity, Daegu 702-701, Rep. of Korea 2Youngyang Pepper Experiment Station, Youngyang 764-803, Gyeo-ngbuk, Rep. of Korea

Pepper (Capsicum annuum) is grown for dry fruits for powder for making Kimchee and for green pods for fresh consumption and cook-ing in Korea. Pepper ranks top in acreage and value among the vege-table crops in Korea. Major type grown is Korean chile type pepper. Demand for diverse varieties is creasing with improved living standard and also increased ethnic diversity living and staying in Korea. We have selected materials in Capsicum chinense, C. frutescens, and C. baccatum last 3 years for adaptability to Korean growing conditions. In 2011, we analyzed such chemical quality component contents as capsaicin, sugar, and color materials. In capsaicin and dihydrocapsa-icin content, Bhut Zolokia ranked top with over 2,000mg% of total capsaicinoids, followed by red and orange Habanero with 786 and 932mg%, respectively. C. frutescens selections contained around 300mg% capsaicin and around 150mg% dihyrocapsaicin, relatively high as compared to other species of Capsicum. High sugar content accessions were found in a C. baccatum and a C. chinense accession. High ASTA value accessions were found in C. annuum accessions.

Contact Information: B.S. Kim, Department of Horticulture, Kyung-pook National University, Daegu 702-701, Rep. of Korea. Phone 82-53-950-5729, Email: [email protected]

Evaluating Chili Pepper Cultivars in Central Missouri

S. Kirk and S. GuCooperative Extension and Research, Lincoln University. Jefferson City, MO

Chili peppers have become an increasingly popular crop for small-scale growers in the Midwest. The objective of this trial was to deter-mine chili cultivars that perform best under our harsh mid-continental growing conditions. Forty-eight (48) chili cultivars, including14 Big Chili, 26 Jalapeno, and eight Pablano type varieties, were evaluated in 2011 in an initial non-replicated trial. Pepper plants were started with seeds in a greenhouse and transplanted in May on the Lincoln University George Washington Carver Farm, located in Jefferson City, Missouri. Standard black plastic mulch and drip irrigation were used for this research. Four bulk harvests were conducted on July 27th, Au-gust 25th, September 23rd, and October 18th. Individual fruit weight and size were taken with 10 randomly selected fruits from each cultivar on July 27th and August 25th, respectively. Among the cultivars, Jalapeno ‘Grande’ had the highest yield, while Jalapeño ‘Conchos’ produced the largest fruit. ‘Purple Jalapeno’ produced the lowest yields. The Big Chili cultivar ‘Charger’ produced the greatest yield and fruit size, while ‘Big Jim’ produced the lowest. ‘San Ardo’ Pablano chilies had the highest yield and fruit size, while ‘Don Matias’ had the least yield. In 2012, Cayenne, Habanero and Serrano cultivars were added to the list and the total number of cultivars was 68. This evaluation was con-ducted in a completely randomized design with four replications. Dis-ease and insect pest resistance, fruit size, fruit weight, early yield and total yield, and Scoville heat units have been taking. The weather pat-tern for 2011 and so far for 2012 has been different, indicating a more interesting evaluation of the cultivars, especially with Big Chili, Ja-lepeno and Pablano types. The specific cultivar information is listed in the following. Jalapeno cultivars include Conchos, El Jefe, Jalafuego, Colima, Grande, Milta, Jalapeno M, Centella, Compadre, Hybrid #7, Ixtapa X3R, Sayula, Tajin, Chichimeca, Mucho Nacho, Agriset 4108, Rayo, Mammoth, Valor, Ciclon, Tormenta Suribachi, Tacana, Telica,


El Rey, Tula and Major League. Big Chili cultivars include NM Joe E. Parker, Sahuaro, Big Jim, New Mexico Improved, Anaheim, Galena, Charger, Highlander, JPR 101111, Krimson Lee, Chili Grande and Rio de Oro. Pablano cultivars include Tiburon, Ancho 211, Ancho 101, Rebelde, Ancho San Martin, Masivo, San Ardo, Abedul, Crimson Hot and Huizache. Cayenne cultivars include Andy, Red Rocket, Chey-enne, Golden Heat, Iberia, Joe’s Long, Large Thick, Long Slim, Me-silla, Nainari, Red Devil and Super Chili. Habanero cultivars include Hot Papper Lantern, Balam and Rey Pakal. Serrano cultivars include Devil, Serrano Del Sol and Tuxtlas.

Contact Information: Steven Kirk. Lincoln University of Missouri. 900 Chestnut Street, Jefferson City, MO 65101. Phone: 573-681-5521. E-mail: [email protected]

Red Bell Pepper Cultivar Evaluations for the Summer and Fall Markets

Wesley L. Kline¹ and C. Andrew Wyenandt²¹Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cumberland County²Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center

Red bell peppers have a premium in the market place, but are diffi-cult to grow under New Jersey conditions. The objective was to se-lect cultivars which have acceptable fruit quality and yield. Sixteen cultivars were transplanted May 23 for a summer trial and July 1 for fall. Transplants were set on raised plastic covered beds with one drip line placed between double rows 12 inches apart with 18 inch-es between plants and 5 ft. between beds in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. Each trial was harvested eight times (August 10-September 29 for early planting and September 2-Octo-ber 28 for the late planting) by hand and graded into size by weight. At the sixth harvest for the summer trial and the fifth harvest for the fall trial, five fruit from each replication were randomly selected from the extra-large and large fruit to evaluate for recessed shoulder, lobe number, wall thickness, fruit length and width, fruit color, smoothness, glossiness and uniformity. Yields in the summer planting were approx-imately 50% less than the fall planting. This was related to the high temperatures during most of the growing season. There were more extra-large and commercial fruit in the fall planting compared to the summer planting. The cultivars Socrates, Paladin, King Arthur, Red Knight, Alliance and Aristotle performed the best for yield and fruit quality during the summer harvest season. Cultivars with significantly higher yields for the fall planting included Alliance, Aristotle, Hunt-er, Red Knight, King Arthur, Paladin, Patriot, Classic, XPP 6001 and 1819. Some fall harvested cultivars exhibited a physiological disorder called ‘stip’ (black spot or color pitting). Black spot appears when temperatures just above freezing occur for several nights at harvest. Green pitting is associated with higher than normal calcium content of the fruit in the pitted area. This is a possible interaction among calcium, nitrogen and potassium. The cultivars which exhibited stip were Paladin, Classic, Red Bull, Revolution, Camelot (worst), Aristot-le, Patriot and Vanguard. The other problem observed in the fall study was fruit cracking. This results from nighttime relative humidity near saturation thus the fruit cannot expand rapidly and the fruit cracks. The cultivars observed with cracks were Paladin, Socrates, Aristotle and Hunter. These disorders would make the fruit unsalable for the market. Cultivars that were recommended to growers for fall produc-tion included Red Knight, King Arthur, Alliance, XPP 6001 and 1819.Contact Information: Wesley L. Kline, PhD., Rutgers Cooperative Extension, 291 Morton Ave., Millville, NJ 08332, USA, Phone: 856-451-2800; Fax: 856-451-4206, Email: [email protected]

Cytomorphological and seed protein profiles of F1 hybrid between C.annuum L and C.frutescens L.

V. Rattan Kumar1, S. Subba Tata1 and O. Aniel Kumar1

Department of Botany, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Two F1 hybrids one between C. annuum var. X-235 and C. frute-scens L(H1) and another between C. frutescens L and C. annuum var. X-235(H2) were obtained. Cytogenetic analysis of F1 hybrids showed that the parental genomes differ each other by 2 or 1 translocations, 1 inversion and some minor structural alterations leading to reduced homologies between the respective paratenal genomes. All the F1s ex-hibited significant heterosis with respect to number of branches per plant and fruit diameter. Meiotic irregularities pollen and seed sterili-ties were higher H2 than H1. It was observed that the SDS-PAGE seed protein profiles showed decreased protein polypetides was encoun-tered in F1 hybrids. Probable reasons for the differences in respect of their crossability relationships, chromosome pairing and fertilities in non-rearing of reciprocal hybrids are suggested. Cytological, morpho-logical and seed protein polypeptides relationships in detail between C. annuum L. and C. frutescens are in operation.

Contact Information: Prof. V. Rattan Kumar, Department of Botany, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam PO Box. 530 003, E.mail: [email protected]

Developing an IPM Strategy for Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus in California

Michelle Le Strange1, R. Gilbertson2, O. Batuman2, N. McRoberts2, D. Ullman2, T. Turini3, S. Stoddard3, G. Miyao3

1University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare and Kings Counties, CA, USA 2Plant Pathology & Entomology Departments, University of Califor-nia, Davis, CA, USA 3University of California Cooperative Extension, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, Solano, and Yolo, Counties, CA, USA

Tomato spotted wilt (TSW) caused by the thrips-transmitted virus To-mato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), has steadily increased in California’s Central Valley since 2003 and is causing economic losses in peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce. A team of researchers began investigating the sources of virus inoculum, the population dynamics of thrips, and how to effectively manage TSW with the objective to develop an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy. TSWV is found worldwide with an extensive host range (over 900 species). It is transmitted by at least nine species of thrips, but western flower thrips (Frankliniella occi-dentalis) is the most important vector in California. Not all hosts are equally important in the epidemiology of this disease. In general, TSW susceptible plants on which thrips can complete their entire lifecycle play the most important role. Extensive surveys (2004-2012) for TSWV reservoirs in common weeds in and around susceptible crops reveal very low infection in-cidence (<0.1%). However, since fall of 2010 when weedy fallow fields were found with relatively high numbers of TSWV-infected plants (7% sow thistle and 5% prickly lettuce) these non-cropped sites are now considered important potential inoculum sources. The role of almonds, onion, wheat and alfalfa (reported non-hosts of TSWV) as potential sources of TSWV-carrying thrips was investi-gated and ruled out after monitoring thrips over a three-year period; TSWV was not detected in collected insects by a sensitive PCR-based test. Peppers and tomatoes (known hosts) were proven to be capable of amplifying the virus during the summer growing season. Another potential inoculum source of TSWV in peppers and tomatoes are “bridge” hosts, which are TSW susceptible crops grown during winter months when peppers and tomatoes are not grown. These crops, lettuce, radicchio, and fava bean, were surveyed for thrips and TSWV infection over the past five years and confirmed to be hosts of TSWV. In particular, radicchio is a very susceptible host and sustains high thrips populations.


Insecticide studies conducted from 2007-2012 have shown varying levels of efficacy and cannot be relied upon for complete thrips man-agement. An integrated pest management (IPM) program includes strategies for susceptible crop and weed sanitation, reducing move-ment of thrips to peppers and tomatoes from potential winter weed hosts and susceptible winter crops, reducing thrips in peppers and to-matoes, as well as using resistant cultivars and spatial separation of fields for TSW management in susceptible crops. The IPM Program is in widespread use and a risk assessment model is under development.

Contact Information: Michelle Le Strange, University of Califor-nia Cooperative Extension, 4437-B S. Laspina Street, Tulare, CA 93274, USA, Phone: 559-684-3320; Fax: 559-685-3319; E-mail: [email protected]

Nitrogen Has Major Impact on Bell Pepper Yield but Not Post Harvest Quality Michelle Le Strange1 and Marita Cantwell2 1University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare & Kings Counties, CA, USA2Plant Sciences Dept, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

In the Central Valley of California bell peppers are grown for fresh and processing markets, and some times the same crop is used for both pur-poses. Some fields are grown on poles and plastic mulched beds for ex-tended fresh market production, while others are grown without plastic mulch or support for a once (or twice) over harvest. Many growers use drip irrigation and apply liquid nitrogen fertilizers through the drip system. Nitrogen best management practices have not been updated for many years, nor has there been a recent study that investigates the relationship between nitrogen fertilizer and pepper quality at harvest, when grown under drip irrigation. In 2011 a field study was conducted to investigate 5 rates of nitrogen fertilizer (60-315 lbs N/A) on the yield and postharvest quality of drip irrigated bell peppers grown on 40-inch beds without plastic mulch or poles. Prior to planting the soil tested very low (5 ppm nitrate-N) in the top foot of soil for residual nitrogen. Whole leaf samples were collect-ed four times every few weeks during the growing season beginning at first flower, and analyzed for N content. The field was picked twice for yield, quality attributes, and postharvest evaluations. The peppers showed a significant yield response to the varying lev-els of nitrogen fertilizer. Total marketable yield ranged from 7.3 to 20.4 tons per acre. The two lower Nitrogen treatments (60 and 135 lbs/A) were insufficient for maximum yield and size, but there were only small differences between the three higher rates (195, 255, 315 lbs N/A) with the two highest rates producing more extra-large fruit. In a completely nitrogen depleted soil approximately 250 lbs N/A is needed to produce maximum yields in a 16-week crop grown under California’s Central Valley conditions. Postharvest evaluations of ma-ture green fruit atthe first harvest revealed that there was no differences in form, firmness, or dry weight, but fruit weight and pericarp thick-ness were significantly less in the two lowest nitrogen rates. At the second harvest mature green fruit were more firm, weighed more, and had higher dry weights at the higher nitrogen levels. Green color (hue) was slightly higher in lower N fruit of the first pick, but there were no color differences in the second pick. Bruising and cracking differences did not follow a consistent trend among treatments. Postharvest evalu-ations of mature green marketable fruit indicated few differences due to nitrogen fertilization. As expected red fruit had higher fresh and dry weights than green fruit, but only fresh weights were affected positive-ly by increasing nitrogen. Red color was similar among all treatments except the low N treatment in which the fruits were orange-red.

Contact Information: Michelle Le Strange, University of Califor-nia Cooperative Extension, 4437-B S. Laspina Street, Tulare, CA

93274, USA, Phone: 559-684-3320; Fax: 559-685-3319; E-mail: [email protected]

Update on Weed Control Trials in California Peppers

Michelle Le Strange and Richard F. Smith

University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare and Monterey Counties, respectively

Weed control challenges for field grown peppers without plastic mulch continue to be significant in California. Peppers are long-season veg-etables that compete weakly with weeds for the first 40 to 60 days fol-lowing transplanting, while late season weeds can make crop harvest difficult. They are a crop that can be subject to flushes of both winter and summer annual weeds over the course of their growing cycle. Sev-eral perennial weeds are also problematic. The preemergent herbicides registered for peppers have gaps in the spectrum of weeds that they control and there are very few selective postemergent herbicides that are registered in peppers, and no new herbicides being developed for peppers. As a result of these challenges, weed management is a signif-icant cost of production with growers easily spending up to $400 per acre on herbicide application, mechanical cultivation, and hand hoeing. Preemergent herbicides registered for use in peppers include Dacthal (DCPA), Devrinol (napropamide), Prefar (bensulide), and Tre-flan (trifluralin), with Dual Magnum (s- metolachlor) registered under a 24C. Postemergent herbicides include Poast (sethoxy-dim) and Select Max (clethodim), which are selective for grass-es, Sandea (halosulfuron) which is selective for yellow (and pur-ple) nutsedge (Cyperus sp.) and applied as a directed spray, and the nonselective herbicides Scythe (pelargonic acid) and Shark (carfentrazone), applied as a directed spray away from the crop. Since 2004 tandem field studies have been conducted in two of the four major growing regions of California (South San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast) looking for selective herbicides suitable for use in transplanted bell pepper production. Preemergent herbicides tested have included Chateau (flumioxazin), Dual Magnum (s-metolachlor), Goal Tender (oxyfluorfen), Outlook (dimethenamid-p), Prowl H2O (pendimethalin), Sandea (halosulfuron), V-10142 (Valent product) and compared to Dacthal. Recent studies have included Nortron (etho-fumesate), Sonalan (ethalfluralin), and Zeus (sulfentrazone). Appli-cation timings include at planting and at layby. At planting applica-tions have looked at pre-transplant, post-transplant over the top, and post-transplant directed spray for some of the herbicides in order to achieve better crop safety. The objective of these studies has been to examine herbicide combina-tions and rates that can provide long term and economical weed con-trol for transplanted peppers grown without plastic mulch. They were conducted in two production districts to test the herbicides over a wid-er range of growing conditions and weed spectra. Results from these studies are mixed, yet promising. Several herbicides (Dual Magnum, Goal Tender, Outlook, and Prowl H2O) have provided very good weed control on a number of important pepper weeds with very acceptable crop safety and no effect on yield. Some have received registration and we are seeking adjustments to other labels for use in California pepper production.

Contact Information: Michelle Le Strange, University of Califor-nia Cooperative Extension, 4437-B S. Laspina Street, Tulare, CA 93274, USA, Phone: 559-684-3320; Fax: 559-685-3319; E-mail: [email protected]

Cloning and Characterization of Genes Involved in Pollen Devel-opment in Pepper

Chen Changming Chen Gu ju Chen, Bihao Cao, Qinghua Chen, Jianjun Lei


College of Horticulture, South China Agriculture University, Guang-zhou China

Pepper (Capsicum annum L.) is a worldwide vegetable with great importance to flavoring industry. In this investigation two nov-el preferentially expressed cDNA sequence in fertile plants of male sterility 114AB lines of hot pepper were isolated and characterized. The corresponding full-length cDNA and DNA sequence were sub-sequently amplified by Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends (RACE), named CaMF1 (Capsicum annuum Male Fertility) and CaMF2. The expression patterns of both of CaMF1 and CaMF2 were analyzed by RT-PCR and qRT-PCR. Simultaneously, the function of CaMF2 in-volved in pollen development was analyzed by virus induced gene si-lence (VIGS) technology. Additionally, to obtain more genes involved in pollen development, the gene differential expression analysis was performed using RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) in the genic male ster-ile-fertile line 114AB of Capsicum annuum L. and a large number of differential expressed genes were identified. The corresponding full-length cDNA and DNA sequence of a dozens of candidate genes were subsequently amplified by RACE and/or in silico cloning and the spa-tial expression pattern of these genes were analyzed in different tissues of the genic male sterile-fertile line 114AB. All of these results will provide new information to understand the molecular mechanism of pollen development.

Key words: Capsicum annum; Pollen development; VIGS; RNA-Seq; Gene cloning; Expression analysis

Contact Information: Jianjun Lei, College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural university, Guangzhou, 510642, Guangdong Province, PR China. Hone:86-20-85288275, Fax:86-20-85280228, Email:[email protected]

Applications of ABA to Improve Bell and Jalapeno Pepper Transplant Quality

D.I. Leskovar1, S.Agehara1, and J. Jifon2

1Texas AgriLife Research, VFIC, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M System, Uvalde, TX 78801 2Weslaco, TX 78596

Exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) applied as foliar during early and late development has been evaluated in bell and jalapeno pepper (Capsi-cum annuum L.) seedlings. The objectives of these studies are to en-hance drought stress tolerance, control plant size (height), and con-dition transplants to better withstand post-transplanting field stresses. In dehydration-recovery studies, ABA applied to mature bell pepper transplants has shown to improve the maintenance of water potential and recovery of gas exchange. Shoot relative elongation rates de-creased for bell pepper transplants sprayed within one week before maturity. When ABA was applied twice on mature bell pepper trans-plants, field survival improved under stressful field conditions. Growth inhibition was stronger in biomass than in plant height when a single rate of ABA was applied to young jalapeno pepper. Our recent studies aimed at controlling plant size of jalapeno peppers suggest that growth responses (leaf area, leaf biomass, plant height) are proportional to the application rate. This presentation will discuss ABA application meth-ods aimed at improving transplant quality of bell and jalapeno peppers.

Contact Information: Daniel I. Leskovar, Phone: 830-278-9151, Email: [email protected]

Screening Capsicum Pepper Accessions for Tolerances to Salinity and Water Stresses

S. López-Galarza1, S.G. Nebauer1, A. San Bautista1, C. Penella2 and A. Calatayud2

1Departamento Producción Vegetal, Universitat Politècnica València.

Valencia. Spain.2Departamento Horticultura. Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones agrarias (IVIA). Valencia. Spain.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the behaviour of pepper geno-types under the most common abiotic stresses in the Mediterranean areas, salinity and water stresses, to be used as rootstocks for pepper crops. The screening was based in the germination rate and the pho-tosynthetic parameters during the vegetative and reproductive stages. The performance of 18 Capsicum pepper accessions genotypes, 6 ac-cessions of Capsicum annuum L. (CA); 3 of Capsicum chinenses Jacq.(CC); 2 of Capsicum baccatum Jacq. (CB); 3 of Capsicum pubescens L. (CP); 1 of Capsicum frutescens L. (CF) and 3 commercial cultivars (CO) used as rootstocks, were evaluated under salinity (5 dS m-1) and water stress (60% of ETc) conditions. The net photosynthesis rate at vegetative and reproductive stages of the genotypes ‘Serrano 2’ (CA), ‘Chinense 2’ (CC) and ‘Baccatum 2’ (CB) were not affected by salt or water stress. The cultivar ‘Tresor’ (CO) showed specific tolerance to salinity, while cultivars ‘Atlante’ (CO) and ‘C-40’ (CO), accessions ‘Chinense 1’ (CC), and ‘Numex’(CP) were specifically tolerant to wa-ter stress. Some of these genotypes and cultivar Piquillo IGP (CA), as sensitive to both stresses, were tested at germination under salinity (60 and 100 mM NaCl) and from 0.5% to 10% PEG to induce water stress. All genotypes tolerant to both abiotic stresses were also found tolerant at the germination stage. Only ‘Chinense 2’ (CC), double tolerant at vegetative and reproductive stages, showed low values of final germi-nation under the maximum stress conditions. Therefore, the genotypes exhibited variability in their salinity and water stress tolerances along the growth cycle, and the germination rate seem to be a quick and con-fident method for screening large numbers of accessions.

Contact Information: Salvador López-Galarza Departamento Produc-ción Vegetal, Universitat Politècnica València, Valencia, Spain, Cno. De Vera c/n, C. P. 46022, Valencia Spain., Phone (+34) 963877337, Email: [email protected] Comparative Effects of Chili Thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), On Eleven Pepper Varieties In the Greenhouse and Laboratory In South Florida

Cliff G. Martin and Dakshina R. Seal

Effects of chili thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on pepper, Capsicum spp. ‘Agriset 4108’, ‘Fresno 6022’, ‘Hot Tormenta’, ‘Hot San Ardo’, ‘Cheyenne’, ‘Hot Habanero Orange’, ‘Red Devil Cayenne’, ‘Numex Big Jim’, ‘Astry’, ‘Hot Fatalli’, and ‘Jamaican Yellow’, were tested at the Tropical Research and Educa-tional Center, Homestead, FL, in 2011 and 2012 in greenhouse and laboratory environments. When plants were treated with Spinetoram or untreated in a greenhouse, flower buds, cut pedicels, and total of pedicels, flowers, and fruits per plant each had no interactions between variety and treatment, while numbers of fruit and canopy volume had interactions. Flower buds, pedicels, and total differed between va-rieties with ‘Astry’ and ‘Agriset 4108’ having the highest and ‘Hot Habanero Orange’ and ‘Hot Fatalli’ the lowest; Spinetoram increased numbers of pedicels and total when varieties were pooled. ‘Hot San Ardo’ was highest and ‘Hot Fatalli’ lowest for treated canopy volume, and ‘Fresno 6022’ was highest and ‘Hot Fatalli’ lowest for treated fruit. ‘Numex Big Jim’ was least helped and ‘Fresno 6022’, ‘Hot Tormenta’, ‘Cheyenne’, ‘Astry’, and ‘Jamaican Yellow’ most helped by Spine-toram application. A greenhouse choice test indicated ‘Hot Tormenta’, ‘Hot Fatalli’, ‘Numex Big Jim’, and ‘Jamaican Yellow’ had the fewest thrips per plant, and ‘Astry’ and ‘Red Devil Cayenne’ had the most. In a choice of varieties in Petri dishes in laboratory growth chambers, ‘Hot Fatalli’, had the fewest nymphs per leaf disk and ‘Agriset 4108’ had the most. ‘Hot Fatalli’ attracted the fewest thrips, hence was the most resistant variety across three experiments, though it had the


smallest plant size and lowest yields; Spinetoram improved yields of productive varieties like ‘Fresno 6022’, which may be more feasible to grow than ‘Hot Fatalli’.

Effect of Fungicide Type and Placement on Stem Cankers Caused by Phytophthora capsici on Pepper

M.E. Matheron and M. Porchas Yuma Agricultural Center, The University of Arizona, Yuma, AZProduction of chile peppers in Arizona is concentrated in the south-eastern part of the state, where the soil-borne oomycete pathogen Phytophthora capsici also is present and causes losses every year in some fields. Initial disease symptoms usually include wilting and the appearance of crown (stem) rot at the base of infected plants. Most plant death results from these soil-borne infections; however, under favorable environmental conditions, such as frequent summer rainfall events, an aerial blight of leaves, fruit and stems can occur, which fur-ther increases crop loss. Several fungicides are registered for manage-ment of this disease; however, populations of P. capsici in many grow-ing areas have become insensitive to at least one material, mefenoxam. An experiment was conducted to evaluate and compare the efficacy of registered products as well as new materials under development for management of Phytophthora root and crown rot on pepper plants. Specifically, 4-month-old chile pepper transplants were wounded on the stem with a 5-mm-diameter cork borer. Fungicides then were ap-plied to plants by treating only the foliage and stem or only the roots. Seven days after treatment, transplants were placed horizontally into aluminum trays containing moist paper towels and inoculated by plac-ing a 5-mm-diameter agar disk containing mycelium of Phytophtho-ra capsici onto the stem wound of each plant. Trays were covered with clear plastic film and maintained in the laboratory under fluores-cent light for 7 days, after which the length of resulting stem cankers was recorded. When the foliage and stem of chile pepper plants were treated, compared to nontreated plants, the greatest reduction in stem canker length ranged from 84 to 100% on plants treated with aciben-zolar-S-methyl, ametoctradin+dimethomorph, dimethomorph, fluopi-colide, fosetyl-Al, mandipropamid, mefenoxam, and V-10208. When only plant roots were treated with test fungicides, the highest reduction in stem canker growth ranged from 82 to 100% on plants receiving acibenzolar-S-methyl, ametoctradin+dimethomorph, dimethomorph, fluopicolide, and mefenoxam. These preliminary results suggest that some compounds applied only to roots can effectively restrict growth of P. capsici on plant stems, whereas other products should be applied directly to the plant part subject to infection for optimal control of Phytophthora root and crown rot. These findings, if confirmed by ad-ditional studies, may have implications for management of this disease when fungicides are delivered to plants by drip irrigation.

Contact Information: Michael E. Matheron, Yuma Agricultural Center, The University of Arizona, 6425 W. Eighth Street, Yuma, AZ 85364, Phone (928) 782-5863, Email: [email protected]

Bacterial Spot Resistant Pepper Trials in Florida - 2009 -2012 Gene McAvoy1, Dr David Sui2, Dr Richard Raid3 and Dr Monica Ozores Hampton4.1University of Florida/IFAS Hendry County Extension, LaBelle, Florida2University of Florida/IFAS Palm Beach County Extension, West Palm Beach, Florida 3University of Florida/IFAS Everglades Research and Education Center, Belle Glade, Florida 4University of Florida/IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Educa-tion Center, Immokalee, Florida

Bacterial spot, caused by the bacterium, Xanthomonas euvesicatoria,

is one of the most serious diseases of pepper in Florida. Infection can markedly reduce yields and fruit symptoms reduce marketability. The traditional recommendation for bacterial spot control consists of frequent applications of copper and maneb. In Florida, the effective-ness of copper sprays has been limited for many years, due to the wide-spread occurrence of copper tolerance among strains of X. euvesicatoria Researchers have identified no fewer than eleven different rac-es of Xanthomonas euvesicatoria. Since no variety incorpo-rates resistance to all known races, it is important that grow-ers to be knowledgeable about locally occurring races and use varieties that have resistance to races that occur in their area. Commercial pepper varieties resistant to races 1, 2 and 3 have been on the market for many years and have provid-ed growers with partial protection from bacterial spot infection. Over the past few years, various seed companies have in-troduced a number of newer varieties and selections which incorporate additional resistance to races 4 5 and 6. Initial trials were conducted 2006 to 2010 to evaluate cultivars with added resistance. These trials were repeated in 2010 – 2011 and the 2011 -2012 growing seasons and continue to show that the new culti-vars containing resistance to additional bacterial spot races including race 4, 5 or all three performed well in trials demonstrating dramatical-ly reduced infection rates and superior yield compared to those variet-ies with only bacterial spot races 1, 2 and 3 resistance.While Race 1-5, 1-6 resistant varieties look good when pressure is high, horticultural characteristics and market preference may also play a role in a grower’s choice of variety. In addition, a number of non-resistant varieties provide superior performance in the absence of bacterial spot pressure so growers will need to consider varietial selec-tion based on projected weather conditions during the target growing season.

Contact Information: Gene McAvoy, Phone: 863-674-4092, Email: [email protected] The Proper Role of Insecticides in IPM Programs for Western Flower Thrips in Pepper

Gene McAvoy1, Joe Funderburk2, Mrittunjai Srivistava2, and Norm Leppla3

1University of Florida Hendry County Extension, PO Box 68, La-Belle, Florida 33975, [email protected] Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 155 Research Road, Quincy. Florida 32351, [email protected] and Nematology Department, University of Florida, PO Box 110620, Gainesville, FL 32611, [email protected]

Although environmentally-friendly tactics are a major part of the ver-tically integrated pest management program for western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis), insecticides continue to play an important role. Recommendations regarding which insecticides to use and when are made in the context of both short-term and long-term management goals. Minimizing resistance development and avoiding the flaring of western flower thrips populations by the elimination of natural ene-mies and competing thrips species are critical factors in insecticide recommendations. The use of selective insecticides against western flower thrips and other pests that have minimal impacts on minute pirate bug populations is very important in conservation biological control in pepper and eggplant. These insecticides reduce the risk of releasing non-target pests from natural control. Certain carbamate, ne-onicotinoid, and organophosphate insecticides have some level of effi-cacy against western flower thrips but these should be used sparingly, and only in particular instances when non-target effects are minimal. Most broad-spectrum synthetic insecticides, including pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, organophosphates, and carbamates kill the native spe-cies of thrips that outcompete western flower thrips, thereby leading


to dramatic large-scale shifts in thrips demographics. Broad-spectrum insecticides can directly enhance the rate of increase of western flower thrips populations. The goal of integrated pest management is prevent-ing damage (i. e., keeping populations below the economic thresholds) rather than killing the maximum number of western flower thrips. By re-directing the focus of management programs to the crop and its op-timal production, the producer develops an appreciation for the con-cept of the tolerance of sub-economic levels of pests. This is critical in our experience in the widespread adoption of a management approach, as opposed to a control approach, as the more effective, economical, and sustainable way to deal with western flower thrips. Effective and sustainable management for western flower thrips is achieved in the overall context of integrated pest management, with insecticide resis-tance management being a key component. We provide for regularly updated lists of insecticides for fruiting vegetables with varying levels of efficacy against western flower thrips adults and larvae. We recom-mend rotating the available insecticides in different chemical classes to avoid the development of resistance in western flower thrips. This inte-grated resistance management strategy is a component of the compre-hensive integrated pest management program for fruiting vegetables, and it is only recommended when multiple applications of insecticides are needed for western flower thrips or other pests during the same cropping season.

No Contact Information

Bioactive and Valuable Compounds in 114 Native Bolivian Chili Accessions

S. Meckelmann1, D. Riegel1, C. Bejarano2, T. Avila3, M. van Zon-nefeld4, M. Petz1

1Department of Food Chemistry, University of Wuppertal, Germany, 2 Fundación PROINPA, Bolivia, 3CIFP, Bolivia, 4Bioversity Interna-tional, Cali/Columbia

Belonging to the botanical family of Solanaceae together with other plants like tomato, eggplant or tobacco, the genus Capsicum is one of the oldest cultivated plants. For over 6000 years their fruits were used for many purposes and not only as spice or food in the human diet. Chili fruits are widely known as a natural source of different bio-active components, like ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acid (vitamin C), carotenoids, flavonoids and the pungent capsaicinoids. Their health promoting effect is based on the capability of scavenging free radicals in biological systems. The amount and pattern of these compounds are mainly influenced by their genotype, environmental factors and pro-cessing parameters. Besides the health promoting attributes, the specif-ic colour (mostly carotinoids) of the various accessions is of significant interest due to its importance for the production of natural colorants such as oleoresins, which are used in the food and cosmetic industries [1, 2]. To acquire a comprehensive image of the biodiversity of commercially valuable and bioactive compounds, we analysed 114 different varieties of Bolivian chili powders including samples from the 5 domesticat-ed species C. annuum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, C. baccatum and C. pubescens besides a wide variety of wild species, for example C. chacoense, C. eximium or C. minutiflorum. All samples were analysed for pungency (capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin and nordihydrocapsaicin), extractable colour (ASTA 20.1), fat content (as an indicator for vita-min E content), total polyphenols using a microtiter plate format of the Folin-Ciocalteu assay, Trolox equivalent antioxidative capacity (TEAC), the flavonoids quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol and apigenin, and the sum of ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acid (vitamin C). The ta-ble below gives a summary of the obtained results and shows the great biochemical diversity of the analysed chilis.

Attributes Mean Median RangeCapsaicinoids – HPLC (mg/100g) 138 93 0-1028

Extractable colour (ASTA 20.1 Colour units)

44 38 3-127

Fat content (g/100g) 14.7 14.1 6.7-32.8Polyphenols Fo-lin-Ciocalteu assay (g/100g)

1.481.48 0.94-

2.17

Antioxidative ca-pacity TEAC assay (mmol/100g)

4.1 4.1 2.9-7.0

Flavonoid content - HPLC (mg/100g) 8.3 7.9 0.4-46.8

Quercetin - HPLC (mg/100g) 6.6 6.0 0.4-42.6

Vitamin C - HPLC (mg/100g) 17 5 5-437

References:[1] Perry L et al. (2007), Starch Fossils and the Domestication and

Dispersal of Chili Peppers (Capsicum spp. L.) in the Americas, Science 315, 5814:986-988

[2] Wahyuni Y et al. (2011), Metabolite biodiversity in pepper (Capsicum) fruits of thirty-two diverse accessions: Variation in health-related compounds and implications for breeding, Phyto-chemistry, 72:1358-1370

The work was carried out within the research project “Rescue and Promotion of Native Chilis in their Centre of Origin”, coordinated by Bioversity International and funded by the Federal Ministry for Eco-nomic Cooperation and Development / GIZ (2010-2013). We thank E. Mueller-Seitz for helpful discussions and E. Serrano (ITA, Bolivia) for final oven drying of the samples.

Contact Information: S. Meckelmann, Department of Food Chemistry, University of Wuppertal, Gaussstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany, Phone: 0049 202 439 3443, Email: [email protected]

Phenotypic and Genotypic Evaluation of Phytophthora Fruit Rot Resistance in a Worldwide Germplasm Collection

Naegele, R.P.1 and Hausbeck, M.K.1

Department of Plant Pathology, Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI

Pepper is an important vegetable crop worldwide. In the U.S. over 31,000 ha were harvested in 2011 with a production value over $830 million. Phytophthora capsici Leonian, a major disease of pepper, is found throughout production regions. Root rot is the most common syn-drome caused by P. capsici on pepper, though foliar blight and fruit rot have also been identified. Fruit rot and foliar blight are less well stud-ied and thought to be controlled by different genetic mechanisms than root rot. Phytophthora fruit rot can occur both pre- and post-harvest. Chemical and cultural controls can reduce the severity of disease in the field, but additional resistant cultivars could improve management. Immature, green fruit of 110 lines of pepper (Capsicum annuum) ger-mplasm representing a wide geographic distribution were evaluated for Phytophthora fruit rot resistance. Fruit were inoculated with two


virulent isolates of P. capsici: 12889 and OP97. For each isolate, fif-teen fruit were assessed for lesion diameter and density of pathogen growth for each line 3 and 5 days post inoculation (dpi). Significant differences were evident between lines for lesion diameter at both 3 and 5 dpi. Line by isolate interactions were evident, and OP97 was significantly more virulent than 12889 overall. Most lines tested were highly susceptible (>70% incidence with a lesion area >3 cm2 at 5 dpi) to fruit rot by both isolates. All of the lines evaluated had at least one fruit infected, though lesion area varied between lines. Primers designed from pepper and tomato ESTs, SSRs, and resistance-associ-ated genes were tested against the germplasm population to identify phylogenetic relationships correlated with resistance. Fruit rot qtls, previously identified in a New Mexico recombinant inbred line popu-lation, were also evaluated against the germplasm to confirm their as-sociation with resistance. The identification of germplasm resistant to Phytophthora capsici, and associated markers, will provide a resource for breeders to develop fruit rot resistant varieties.

Contact information: Rachel P. Naegele, Department of Plant Patholo-gy, Michigan State University. 164 Plant Biology 612 Wilson Rd. East Lansing, MI 48824 USA, Phone: 517-355-4576; Fax: 517-353-9704, Email: [email protected]

Field Trials of Peppers (Capsicum spp.) on the Island of St. Croix

Dilip Nandwani Plant Science Laboratory, Agricultural Experiment Station, Universi-ty of the Virgin Islands, Kingshill, USVI

Peppers (Capsicum spp.) are important crops for small scale producers in the United States Virgin Islands and are grown for fresh market. In 2007, production (31,475 lb) and acreage (12 ac) planting of peppers have been increased from 2002 (14,750 lb, 8 ac). Both, sweet (Capsi-cum annum) and hot peppers (Capsicum chinense) produced commer-cially and share market in the USVI. Horticulture Program - Univer-sity of the Virgin Islands conducted field trials of selected cultivars of peppers (sweet and hot) at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Fall 2011-Spring 2012 season. The objective of the research was to conduct evaluations of sweet and hot pepper varieties that are suitable to grow in the local soil and climatic conditions. Challenges in pepper produc-tions in the US Virgin Islands are, high cost of labor and management, limited water resources, weeds, diseases and pests, limited land and natural disasters. Twenty cultivars of sweet (traditional bell types, spe-cialty peppers, long and pointed banana type, colored and cherry type) and hot peppers (cayenne, Jalapeno type, round and wrinkled fruits) were selected for the investigation and planted using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Significant differenc-es were observed in hot pepper cultivars for marketable fruit weight, marketable yield, and number of fruits. `Hungarian Yellow Wax’ was the first cultivar harvested (60days) and `Caribbean Red’ observed late maturity (80 days) among the seven cultivars tested. `Compadre’ produced the highest total marketable yield (42.8oz/plant). `Caribbean Red’ produced lowest marketable yield (4.5oz./plant) in given number of harvests and time. Marketable fruits begin producing from 5th har-vest from total eight harvests. `Camino Real’ produced highest num-ber of marketable fruits (230/plant) and `Hungarian Yellow Hot Wax’ produced lowest number of marketable fruits (37/plant). `Compadre’ fruits were biggest (1.5oz) and `Ring of Fire’ was smallest (0.2oz) in fruit weight. Results of pungency test of fresh hot peppers showed that `Caribbean Red’ is hottest peppers (24,289 scoville heat units) among all the cultivars tested. `Hungarian Yellow Hot Wax’ (581 scoville heat units) was mildest pepper. In sweet peppers, ‘White King’ was the first cultivar harvested (65 days) and produced the highest total marketable yield (33.4oz/plant). ̀ Aristotle’ produced biggest fruit (5.8oz). ̀ Intrud-er’ fruits were smallest (1.1oz) and late maturity (76 days). `Sweet

Cherry’ produced smallest fruit (0.48oz) and lowest yield (8.7oz/plant), which was expected from cherry type. Vegetable variety trials have always been a component of the Agricultural Experiment Station University of the Virgin Islands. There is continuous need for new va-riety testing in peppers for high yield, production, flavor, marketabili-ty, insect pests and disease resistance and overall suitability to grow in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Contact Information: Dilip Nandwani, Horticulture Program, Agricul-tural Experiment Station, University of the Virgin Islands, Kingshill, US Virgin Islands, 00850, Phone (340) 692-4086, Email: [email protected]

Physiological Seed Quality of Capsicum baccatum L. var. pen-dulum and Capsicum chinense under Maturation at Tropical Conditions

W. M. Nascimento Embrapa Vegetables, Brasília, DF, Brazil

The “dedo-de-moça” (girl-finger) and “bode” (goat) types are two of the most important hot peppers consumed in Brazil, mainly in the south and southeast regions. These hot peppers present a mild pun-gency and are generally used in the manufacture of sauces or dried as flakes. The crop establishment usually it is done by transplanting, with the farmer’s own seed. Thus, the seed quality, and consequently the stand establishment, is not always satisfactory in terms of genet-ic (varietal mixture), physiological (low germination and vigor) and health (incidence of fungi, bacteria and especially viruses). Also, fresh seeds of hot peppers may show dormancy and germination can be slow and uneven, even under favorable conditions. This paper describes two different studies of fruit maturation of hot pepper in the Brazilian con-ditions, in order to improve the physiological seed quality. Fruits of ‘Mari’ (Capsicum baccatum L. var. pendulum) and ‘Seriema’ (Capsi-cum chinense) hot peppers from Embrapa Vegetables were harvested at different stages (colour) of maturation. Seeds were extracted imme-diately on 7 (‘Seriema’) and 10 (‘Mari’) days after fruit harvesting. Seeds from red fruits (approximately 60-70 days after anthesis) had the best germination and vigor. In addition, seeds extracted after 7-10 days of fruit storage had better quality compared to the seeds extracted immediately after fruit harvesting. The dormancy of ‘Seriema’ fresh seeds was overcome after two months of storage. The results obtained in these different studies will be discussed.

Contact Information: Embrapa Hortaliças, C. Postal 218, 70.359-970, Brasília, DF, Brazil, Phone 55 61 33859125, Email: [email protected]

Evaluation of Nsukka Yellow Pepper (Capsicum annum L) Accessions for Yield and Pungency in Makurdi, Nigeria

N. I. Odiaka, S. Ayuba and O. H. Ejeh Crop Production Department, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

Nsukka yellow pepper (Capsicum annum) with its distinct character-istics colour and aroma is the hottest pepper used as spice in Nigeria and Benue State in particular. Its high demand, cost, and distinct qual-ities have increased growers interest in its production in the middle belt of Nigeria. However, production is largely restricted to Nsukka in Enugu State and it’s environ. Growers believe that the plant does not grow well outside Nsukka and that the fruits produced, looses pungency. This school of thought could be a result of non correlation of performance between progeny and parent a speculation which may be related to environmental as well as genotypic factors. Therefore the cultivated types of Nsukka pepper were evaluated in Makurdi. Evaluation for breeding potential was done by morphological char-


acterization of the pepper accessions. The objectives of the study were to identify suitable genotypes for yield improvement and, to classify them into similarity groups. The study showed diversity in cultivated types with significant differences in the agronomic traits (p <0.05) with a yield of 22,000kg/hectare and an 89% profit. On a likert scale of 0 to 4 the pungency of Nsukka pepper was measured and the result indicated pungency (3.22) in the cultivated types. It is therefore suggested that Nsukka yellow pepper be produced in Benue State to meet the growing demand and reduce price of the fruits. Key word: Yellow pepper, diversity, pungency, yield.

Contact Information: N. I. Odiaka, Crop Production Department, College of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria, Phone: +234 8037567171 or +234 8052745893, Email: [email protected]

Effect of Spacing and Variety on Yield and Fruit Quality of Pepper Grown with Seepage Irrigation in Florida Sandy Soils

Monica Ozores-Hampton University of Florida/Southwest Florida Research and Education Center. Immokalee FL.

In 2011-2012 Florida was the leader in bell pepper in the USA with 19,000 acres in production and a value of $267,411 million of which 65% is located in Palm Beach County. Bell pepper (Capsicum an-nuum L.) yields have increased dramatically recently due to contin-ued introduction of new varieties resistant to bacterial spot caused by Xanthomonas euvesicatoria. Since bell pepper varieties growth habit is changing, with-in row spacing maybe need adjusted to accommo-date the new varieties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of three in-row spacing (plant populations) on yield and post harvest quality of four pepper varieties grown using seepage irrigation during fall planting in South Florida. The spacing trial was located on a commercial pepper farm in Immokalee, FL. The three in-row spacing were 9, 12 and 15 inches in a single row or 19,360, 14,520 and 11,616 plant/acre, and the four peppers varieties were ‘8302’, Ar-istotle, Myakka, and Regiment planted on 23 Sept. 2009 in a split-plot design with four replications. Data collection consisted of total marketable (super-jumbo, jumbo, x-large, and large) and unmarket-able pepper yields and post-harvest quality (number of lobules, pepper length, width, ratio and wall thickness). Weather conditions during the trials were hot and humid. There were no interactions between in-row spacing and pepper varieties. In-row spacing of 15 inches produced the lowest extra-large fruit and total marketable at first and second harvest combined and season total marketable yields (all harvest and sizes combined). Regiment produced the lowest total marketable yields. There were no differences for in-row spacing on post harvests attributes, however the longest and widest peppers were Aristotle and Myakka, respectively. For South Florida fall pepper production the in-row spacing should be range 9 to 12 inches and the best varieties were Aristotle, Myakka, and ‘8302’.

Contact Information: Monica Ozores-Hampton. University of Flori-da/Southwest Florida Research and Education Center. 2685 State Rd. 29 North Immokalee FL 34142. Phone: 239-658-3400 and email [email protected].

Effects of Solar Protectants on Yield and Residue Coating on Pepper Grown during the Spring and Fall in South Florida

Monica Ozores-Hampton. University of Florida/Southwest Florida Research and Education Center. Immokalee FL.

Southwest Florida’s fresh-market pepper season (19,000 acres) is from Oct. to Apr. with the greatest production from Nov. to Jan. The im-

pact of solar stress may have a detrimental effect on pepper fruit since they are sensitive to sunscald and heat stress at temperatures above 86°F. The most common solar-related problems in pepper are irregu-lar coloring, sunken or wrinkled tissue, and infection from fungi and bacteria. Therefore, the objectives of these studies were to evaluate the effectiveness of different protectant against solar radiation on peppers yield and ability to wash-off of the fruit. Two pepper trials were plant-ed on 15 Feb. (spring) and 16 Sept. (fall), 2010 with variety Polaris and ‘8302’ in Immokalee, FL. respectively. Treatments in the spring and fall consisted on Actinin (two applications at 12.5 lb/acre), Albaglor (two applications at 17.0 lb/acre), Purshade regular and clear (both at two and three applications at 1 gal/acre), and a control (none). In the fall trial, treatments were applied after each harvest. Data collection consisted of total marketable (super-jumbo, jumbo, extra-large, and large), unmarketable, sunscald pepper yields, and fruit residue coating before and after rolling and brushing evaluated with a scale of 0 to 5 with 0=no coating and 5=highest coating. Weather conditions were hot and humid having atypical rainfall for the spring and fall trials with 16.3 and 8.3 inches, respectively. High rainfall in the spring trial induced higher than normal bacterial spot incidence. There were not differences in yields or sunscald among the treatments with total yield ranging from 573 to 862 and 1,540 to 1,671 28-lb bu/acre in spring and fall, respectively. However, sunscald incidences were too infre-quent in the trials to be able to evaluate differences among treatments. In the spring and fall trials the highest pepper residue coating before rolling and brushing was Purshade regular (1.8) and Albaglor (2.9), respectively, and lowest coating after rolling and brushing was Pur-shade clear (0.0) in both seasons. Most products accumulated on the fruit shoulders and were difficult to remove by rolling and brushing. In conclusion, when sunscald was not the limiting factor there were no yield improvements among protectants; however, if solar radiation protection application is desired these solar protectants are easy to re-move by rolling and brushing, except for the fruits shoulders.

Contact Information: Monica Ozores-Hampton. University of Florida/Southwest Florida Research and Education Center. 2685 State Rd. 29 North Immokalee FL 34142. Phone: 239-658-3400 and email [email protected].

Enhancement of Pungency and Resistance of Hungarian Red Pepper Varieties

Gábor Palotás1, Z. Tímár2, Gabriella Palotás1, B. Ágoston1, J. Szarka3 and G. Csilléry4

1Univer Product Plc., Kecskemét, Hungary 2Red Pepper Research and Development Nonprofit Ltd., Kalocsa, Hungary 3Primordium Ltd., Budapest, Hungary 4Budakert Ltd., Budapest, Hungary

Red spicy pepper (Capsicum annuum) is a basic spice of the Hungar-ian cuisine, both powder and cold preserved cream form. Although the share of local production in the national economy has been de-creased during last 20 years the consumption hasn’t been changed sig-nificantly which shows the expansion of import due to opening Hun-garian market after 1990 and even more after 2004 (joining to EU). Key marketing success factors of local powder products can be the labelled origin protection: the 2 main pepper region in Hun-gary (Kalocsa, Szeged) have got the Protected Designation of Or-igin trademark of EU. While majority of powder consumption is non-pungent in Hungary, in case of creams the situation is oppo-site. Strong local brands e.g. “Erős Pista” (“Strong Steve”) from Univer keep their market position. From varieties and production technology point of view the sitation became worse after 1990 in parallel with loss of markets and decline of state-funded research: especially the lack of new resistant varieties suitable for intensive


cultivation technologies inhibits the sustenance of competitiveness. Univer and his partners have started a two-step breeding project in 2010 in order to recover the competitiveness of red pepper product line. The first step includes a 3 years long selection project of 3 Hungarian hot varieties: Szegedi-178, Kalóz and Kalmár. Under greenhouse heated by thermal water we grew up 2 generations per year, cca. 20.000 plants per generation, selected the plants according to key phenological fea-tures e.g. earliness, fruit size, yield, de-stemability. ASTA-values have been tested in lab as well as the pungency in two steps: first by a color reaction from raw fruit after that by HPLC from powder using standard method for characterization of capsaicinoid content. After 4 genera-tion we increased the total capsaicinoid content by 1.000-1.500 mg/kg (depending from varieties) compared with the initial values. In case of Kalóz we observed higher nordihydrocapsaicin ratio (20-35 %) among capsaicinoids than found in literature all around the world. Field exper-iments are performed continuously in order to validate the greenhouse results: selected lines provided higher yield by 10-40 %, higher ASTA by 15-30 %, higher total capsaicinoids by 10-30 % than initial ones. Other key part of this selection project is the resistance testing of Szegedi-178 for TMV L3, of Kalóz and Kalmár for Xanthomonas vesicatoria Bs2. Furthermore we are testing the GDR-level (Ge-neral Defense Reaction) of three cultivars by a specific method. econd step of the project is breeding of multiresis-tent hybrid varieties using among others the selected li-nes as parent lines coming from first step of the project. This research has been supported by the National Development Agen-cy of Hungary (GOP-1.1.1-09/1-2010-0115).

Contact Information: Gábor Palotás, Univer Product Plc., H-6000 Kecskemét, Szolnoki út 35. Hungary, Phone +36-76-518-100, Email: [email protected]

Examination of High Hydrostatic Pressure Technology for Pres-ervation of Hungarian Red Pepper Paste

Gábor Palotás1, I. Dalmadi2, A. Tréfás1, H. Kis1, E. Baisánszki1, Gabriella Palotás1 and Cs. Balla2

1Univer Product Plc., Kecskemét, Hungary 2Department of Refrigeration and Livestock Products’ Technology, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary

Red spicy pepper (Capsicum annuum) is a basic spice of the Hun-garian cuisine, especially as a freshly crushed or fine-milled cream for post-flavoring of several soups and dishes. These crushed and creamy pepper seasonings are produced by cold technology, pre-served chemically using 10-12 % salt content and potassium sorbate as acidic media. This simple preservation method results a unique raw fresh pepper flavor of these products which cannot be reached by pasteurization which leads to different (cooked) flavor. Disad-vantage of this technology is the high salt content. High dietary salt intake is considered as key risk factor of several diseases like high blood pressure or cardiovascular diseases in general. High Hydrostat-ic Pressure (HHP) can be an alternative method which can keep the fresh raw pepper taste but ensure microbiological stability without high salt content. Since HHP treatment leaves the covalent bonds of chemical components intact the small sized food constituents (like vitamins and volatiles) can be preserved efficiently. The objective of our experiments was to evaluate statistically the effect of differ-ent combinations of non-thermal preservation techniques (HHP, pH, salt and preservative) on microbiological stability of pepper paste. Univer’s red pepper paste was used as raw material in our experimen-tal work. The pH (4.0-4.4), the salt content (3-7%) and the potassi-um sorbate content (0-1000 mg/kg) was set in each case according to 2n-type factorial design. The HHP-treatments were performed at room temperature by 2 liter vessel equipment (Resato FPU 100-200). The pressure level (400-750 MPa) and the treatment time

(5-30 min) was established by the factorial model as well. The me-sophilic total plate count, the number of molds, yeasts, acid-produc-ing microbes, coliforms, E. coli and other entobacteriaceae of the pepper paste were determined before and after the HHP-treatment. Comparing the microbiological status before and directly after the treatment, we can state that each examined factor had significant effect on the product, but to different degrees from microbe to microbe. The height of pressure influenced the number of molds, yeasts and other en-terobacteria. Holding time had an effect on the number of molds, yeasts and acid-producing bacteria. While pH and sorbate affected only coli-forms and E. coli significantly, the salt content was effective on each examined microorganism except yeasts and acid-producers. Besides, significant effect of the interrelations between the main factors was proved in several cases. Further major experience is that the decreasing rate of acid-producing bacteria due to HHP-treatment was not enough to get microbiologically stable pepper cream at the given compositions. This research has been supported by the National Development Agen-cy of Hungary (TECH-09-A3-2009-0230 USOK2009 and TÁMOP 4.2.1/B-09/1/KMR/-2010-0005).


Methodological Options for Selection of Cifferent Capsaicin-Con-taining Red Pepper Breeding Lines

Z. Tímár1, Gábor Palotás2, E. Sisákné Tatár1, Gabriella Palotás2 and G. Csilléry3

1Red Pepper Research and Development Nonprofit Ltd., Kalocsa, Hungary 2Univer Product Plc., Kecskemét, Hungary 3Budakert Ltd., Budapest, Hungary

Red spicy pepper (Capsicum annuum) is a basic spice of the Hungar-ian cuisine. While the local powder products are mostly non-pungent, the cold preserved, crushed pepper products are mostly pungent and that are used for post flavoring of soups and dishes. So the level of pungency is an important quality parameter of these kind of products. Univer Product Plc. is the cathegory founder and market leader in Hungary in case of cold preserved red pepper cream products. Univer with its partners is performing a two-step breeding project: in the first step to recover and develop the pungency, resistance and phenological features of existing Hungarian hot varieties (Szegedi-178, Kalóz, Kal-már), in the second step to breed multiresistent hot red pepper hybrids using some of the selected lines from the first step and other lines as resistance sources. Both step’s experimental work is performed un-der thermal water heated greenhouses, growing up two generation per year, and the greenhouse result are validated on field as well. As the pungency is in the focus of this program we are faced with several challenges in terms of its analysis. At first huge amount of samples (3.000-5.000 pcs/generation!) must be tested within a limited time and cost. Secondly the results must be quantifiable and indepen-dent of the investigating staff. Furthermore cross-contamination must be eliminated during sample preparation (slicing, drying, milling). Normal organoleptic test and the Scoville-method were not suitable for this project. The only one advantage of organoleptic test is the safe and cheap separability of low capsaicin-contaning and capsaicin-free sam-ples which have been already pre-selected in another way. The most ef-fective and accurate analytical method is the HPLC, but expensive, so we applied a pre-selection using a fast test. This test is based on the blue color reaction between capsaicin and ammonium-metavanadate. In our application a swap sample has been taken from the carefully opened fruits using white cotton ear-cleaners and the reagent has been dropped on that. Thus the color reaction was well visible not as that can be eval-uated on the red surface of pepper fruit. We determined the detection


limit of this method. The fast test is suitable to separate the high capsa-icin-containing fruits from the low ones, but not suitable for indication the difference among high capsaicin-containing fruits; that remained the task of HPLC-analysis in our project. When the fast test does not show discoloration, an organoleptic examination can help to separate the very low capsaicin-containing fruits from the capsaicin-free ones. This research has been supported by the National Development Agen-cy of Hungary (GOP-1.1.1-09/1-2010-0115 and GOP-1.1.1-11-2011-0065).


Use of Chlorophyll Fluorescence Imaging as Diagnostic Technique to Predict Compatibility in Capsicum spp. Graft

C. Penella1 , S.G. Nebauer2, A. San Bautista2, S. López-Galarza2 and A. Calatayud 1

1Departamento Horticultura. Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones agrarias (IVIA). Valencia. Spain. 2Departamento Producción Vegetal, Universitat Politècnica València. Valencia. Spain.

The capacity to generate the callus bridge between rootstock and scion is dependent of photosynthesis activity in the graft area. Chlorophyll fluorescence image from photosynthetic tissues provides a non-inva-sive, sensitive, rapid and intuitive method that can be used to deter-minate photosynthetic activity. Chlorophyll fluorescence, an indicator of the fate of excitation energy in the photosynthetic apparatus, has been used as early indication of many types of stresses. In this study we proposed the use of this technique to predict graft compatibility or incompatibility in pepper that will eventually exhibit visible damage. Chlorophyll fluorescence imaging of Capsicum plants was performed using an imaging-PAM fluorometer for measuring the fluorescence activity in the new formed callus zone and fluorescence parameters that are most robust in predicting surface damage were identified. The scions “Lamuyo” (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivar “Adige” (Sakata) grafted onto the rootstock Solanum lycopersicum x So-lanum habroichaites “Beaufort” (De Ruiter Seeds) (as a neg-ative control), Capsicum annuum L. “Tresor” (Nunhems) and two cultivars C. annuum “Jalapeño” and C. baccatum L. (C. baccatum var. pendulum) “Ají” were compared in this study. Among all fluorescence parameters measured (Fv/Fm, ΦPSII, qL, ΦNPQ, and ΦNO), the ratio Fv/Fm, proportional to the maximal quan-tum yield of PSII photochemistry, appeared to be the most sensitive to identify tissue stress. The Fv/Fm ratio images values were higher in “Ají” grafted plants than in the others. Pepper plants grafted onto “Beaufort” were incompatibles with lower Fv/Fm values. Plant graft-ed onto “Tresor” and “Jalapeño” showed similar values of Fv/Fm. The results confirm our previous work in melon plants in the sense that this method is useful for a rapid evaluation of graft compatibility on premature stages.

Contact Information: Consuelo Penella Casañ, Departamento Hor-ticultura, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Ctra. Moncada-Naquera km. 4,5. C. P. 46113 Moncada (Valencia), Spain., Phone (+34) 96 342 40 00 ext. 439 212, Email: [email protected]

Industrial Characterization, Carotenoid Accumulation and Carotenoid Biosynthetic Gene Expression for Red, Yellow and Brown Fruit Capsicum Genotypes

María-Teresa Pino1, Carolina Pabon2, Darío Estay1, Paulina Villa-gra1, Maritza Mateo3, Gabriel Saavedra1, Ricardo Pertuze3, Ana-Ma-bel Muñoz1.

1 Institute of Agricultural Research of Chile (INIA) Santiago Chile, 2 Escuela Politécnica del Ejército Quito Ecuador, 3 Universidad de Chile, Santiago Chile.

The processing industries demand concrete specifications from its providers, most quality factors for processed Capsicum are related to the pericarp fruit thickness, total soluble solids, yield of fresh and dry fruit, color ripening, and total carotenoid. Characterizations of Capsi-cum germoplasnm properties are extremely valuable to the processing industry but also for Capsicum breeding program. 50 Capsicum an-nuum L. accessions, dark-brown (DB), red (R) and yellow (Y) fruit, were evaluated for industry traits (pericarp fruit thickness, total soluble solids, yield of fresh and dry fruit). Afterward, seven accessions were selected for further analysis in terms carotenoid accumulation and ca-rotenoid biosynthetic gene expression. The different genotypes show genetic variation in fruits, in terms pericarp thickness, total soluble sol-ids, yield of fresh and dry fruit. Among them, pericarp fruit thickness showed highest genetic variability (0.87 – 8.5mm), while total soluble solids showed slighter genetic variability (5,50 -15,75°Brix). Genetic variability for dry fruit yield, present at levels ranging from 3,44 to 20,97 % dry matter. Accumulation of total carotenoid and chlorophyll degradation at the fully ripe stage were evaluated by spectrophotom-etry and HPLC. Significant differences were observed for total carot-enoid accumulation and chlorophyll degradation among the different Capsicum genotypes (p<0.005); Red-fruits Capsicum (A-571, A-1777, A-664) showed highest carotenoid accumulation. Yellow fruits Capsi-cum (A-580, A-583) showed lower carotenoid accumulation. The Cap-sicum dark-brown fruits (A-612, A-658) showed lowest carotenoid ac-cumulation and higher chlorophylls content (2 to 5 fold higher than red and yellow fruit genotypes), suggesting that those fruits did not achieve total ripening. Several studies have demonstrated that carotenoid ac-cumulation is mainly controlled by the transcriptional regulation of carotenoid biosynthetic genes; for this study lycopene-b-cyclase and capsanthin-capsorubin synthase gene expression was assessed by RT-PCR. Dark-brown (DB) and red (R) Capsicum genotypes showed capsanthin-capsorubin synthase gene expression. Capsicum genotypes A-664 and A-658 showed higher capsanthin-capsorubin synthase gene transcripts accumulation (> 3.5 fold). All of the ripe Capsicum fruits, showed lycopene-b-cyclase gene expression. Capsicum red fruit A-664 showed significant highest transcripts level accumulation (1.7 fold) and dark-brown fruit A-612 showed significant lowest transcripts accumulation (0.2 fold). For Capsicum red fruit, the total carotenoids accumulation showed higher association with capsanthin-capsorubin synthase transcripts level. Similar results were observed for Capsicum dark-brown fruits, the total carotenoid accumulation was highly asso-ciated with capsanthin-capsorubin synthase transcripts accumulation. For yellow fruit Capsicum, the total carotenoids present higher asso-ciation with lycopene-b-cyclase transcripts accumulation. This study supports previous studies, indicating lack of capsanthin-capsorubin synthase transcripts expression in Capsicum yellow fruits.

Contact Information: María-Teresa Pino, Plant breeding and Bio-technology Department, Institute of Agricultural Research of Chile (INIA)/ Santa Rosa 11610 - La Pintana - Santiago - Chile - CP 8831314 Phone: (562) 577 9100 Fax: (562) 541-7667 Email: [email protected].

Soluble Organic Fertilization of Poly-house Peppers

J.E. Reid, K.E. Klotzbach, and N.R. Hoover Cornell Cooperative Extension Vegetable Program, Cornell Universi-ty, Penn Yan, NY, USA Alternative fertility sources are increasingly sought for production of organic vegetables in protected culture such as high tunnels and green-houses. Concerns with conventional fertility sources include salinity


and nitrate levels. Certified organic production in these settings requires increased levels of soluble nitrogen compared to field settings. However there are few commercial organic sources of soluble nutrients available. In 2011 a study was initiated to evaluate a vermicompost extract as a fertility source on a high tunnel pepper crop in central New York, USA. Five pepper varieties were evaluated in a cooperating grower’s unheat-ed high tunnel, with fertilization programs based on vermicompost ex-tract as well as a conventional grower standard schedule. Plant height, yield and foliar nutrient levels were recorded. Yield as measured by pounds of fruit per plant were significantly different among the variet-ies and fertilizer treatment. All varieties yielded more pounds per plant with the conventional fertilizer program than when fertilized with ver-micompost extract. Yield as measured by fruit per plant was not as consistent, but 4 out of 5 of the highest yielding treatments received conventional fertilizer. Plant height was also generally higher for con-ventionally fertilized varieties, with 4 of the top 5 final mean height rankings coming from conventionally fertilized treatments. Fruit weight was consistently higher for vermicompost extract. Plant height were only significantly different on the final two sampling dates. Tissue analysis on July 1showed higher foliar nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the vermicompost sample than the conventional sample On August 8 there was a dramatic rise of foliar nitrogen in the conventional sam-ple, while vermicompost treatments remained within sufficient range. Based on foliar tests and commercial yield parameters, in this trial ver-micompost extract appears to have delivered nutrients at levels accept-able for commercial organic production of high tunnel peppers. For two of the recorded varieties yield in pounds per plant was statistically the same between conventional fertilizer and vermicompost extract. Improvements in seedling management prior to transplant would like-ly decrease the gap in results between the two programs.

Contact Information: Judson E. Reid, Cornell Cooperative Extension Vegetable Program, Cornell University, 417 Liberty Street, Penn Yan, NY 14527 USA, Phone: 585-313-8912; Fax: 315-536-5117 Email: [email protected]

Reviewing 30 Years of Capsicum Breeding at Embrapa Vegeta-bles, Brazil

F.J.B. Reifschneider1 and C.S.Ribeiro2

1 Embrapa Headquarters, Brasília, Brazil2 Embrapa Vegetables, Brasília, Brazil

Capsicum breeding at Embrapa Vegetables, the National Research Cen-ter for Vegetable Crops, started in the early 1980´s and concentrated its efforts in a) the development of disease resistant genotypes; b) estab-lishing a wide network of Brazilian researchers working on different as-pects of Capsicum – from germplasm expeditions in Amazonia to deter-mining volatiles in aromatic Brazilian Capsicum genotypes; c) training human resources at undergraduate and graduate levels; and d) estab-lishing a major germplasm collection which now holds over 4,000 ac-cessions that support a program with over 30,000 lines and populations mostly from domesticated but also semi-domesticated species. Most of the research efforts have targeted hot peppers since sweet pepper breed-ing has been targeted by the national and international private sector. The breeding program has been mostly funded by Embrapa and CNPq, the Brazilian National Research Council, but internation-al and national private sector has also been directly involved in its support through contract research. From its early years, the pro-gram strategy has been based on two pillars: a clear focus on the solution of problems faced by producers and processors in Bra-zil, normally accounting for circa 80% of the total research efforts and resources, and a more “opportunistic” set of research activities

undertaken to benefit from special opportunities arising either in the breeding program itself or in producer´s fields and markets. To date new Capsicum species have been found and several dis-ease resistant inbred lines and populations have been developed and have been widely distributed in Brazil and elsewhere. Sever-al cultivars have been released, including a Cercospora resistant small bock type sweet pepper (Tico), the first sweet paprika hybrid (BRS Brasilândia), hot peppers BRS Seriema and BRS Mari, sweet (beaked group) pepper BRS Moema, and two high yielding (up to 60 ton/ha) jalapeño peppers for the sauce industry, BRS Garça and BRS Sarakura, the latter with over 2,000 tons harvested in 2011. New genotypes in the pipeline include a virus tolerant Malagueta pepper (C. frutescens), red and orange habaneros (300,000 SHU), a nematode, bacterial wilt and Phytophtora capsici resistant rootstock for sweet peppers, as well as other hot and sweet peppers of different species. The program continues to expand its network and has already organized four national meetings (the last in 2011) in addition to creat-ing an electronic platform (a google group) which brings together over 500 participants, mostly from the private sector.Contact Information: Francisco J. B. Reifschneider, Embrapa/CNPq Fellow (Embrapa - Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Em-brapa Sede, Parque Estação Biológica, CEP 70770-901, Brasília, DF, Brazil, Phone +556196752111, Fax: +556134484890, Email: [email protected]

Genetic Divergence Among Jalapeño (Capsicum annuum var. an-nuum) Genotypes Based on Morpho-agronomic Characteristics.

A. Ulhoa1,T. Pereira1, F. J. B. Reifschneider2, R. N. O. Silva1, R. Rodrigues1, M. G. Pereira1 1Plant Breeding Department, UENF, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil 2EMBRAPA Hortaliças, EMBRAPA, Distrito Federal, Brasília, Brazil

The market for hot pepper is expanding in Brazil; so, Brazilian breed-ers are working in hot pepper breeding program searching for cultivars with good fruit characteristic. Among the Capsicum hot peppers, the Jalapeño type is one of the most popular and is considered one of the best for chili sauce production. During a cultivar competition trial it was observed into the Jalapeño red-colored fruit cultivar segregation for red and yellow fruit color. Three individual plants with yellow fruit were observed and three fruits, one from each plant, were harvested. All seeds per individual fruit were collected and the seeds were sown in greenhouse. For three generations the plants were conducted by a modified single seed descendent method, resulting in twenty eight genotypes S3, all with yellow fruits. This research was done in or-der to estimate the genetic divergence among those genotypes based on fruits characteristics (length, width, pulp thickness) and fruit yield per plant. It was used the multivariate analysis to estimate the genetic divergence. The data analysis showed that there is genetic variability among the 28 genotypes and the genotypes CNPH 25.192 and CNPH 25. 197 were the most divergent, since their genetic distance was 2.83. However, the best genotypes for hybrid combination were CNPH 25.192 and CNPH 25. 196 because the first one have higher pulp thickness and the second one has good average for fruit length, and the genetic distance between them was 2.46; so, they have the potential to generate good hybrid combination, therefore they are promising for Jalapeño breeding program.

Contact Information: Telma N S Pereira, Plant Breeding Department, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Avenida Alberto La-mego, 2000, Parque Califórnia, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil, 28013-602, Phone 55(22)27396716, Email: [email protected].


Inheritance of Resistance to PepYMV in Capsicum baccatum var. pendulum

R. Rodrigues1, C. dos S. Bento1, L. S. A. Gonçalves1, H. S. de Oli-veira1 and C. P. Sudre1

1 Plant Breeding Department, UENF, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil

In Brazil, the pepper yellow mosaic virus (PepYMV) prevails in the main sweet and chili pepper producing areas and is considered, along with vascular wilt, a priority in Brazilian Capsicum breeding pro-grams. We investigated inheritance of resistance to PepYMV in Cap-sicum baccatum var. pendulum accessions UENF 1616 (susceptible) crossed with UENF 1732 (resistant). Twenty plants were grown for each of the parents and F1 hybrid, 200 F2 plants and 50 plants in each backcross generation (BC1:1 and BC1:2). Two healthy plants of each parental generation and 20 plants of the cultivar ‘Criollo de Morelos’ were used as a negative control, while 20 plants of the cultivar Ikeda, susceptible to PepYMV and inoculated with the virus, were used as positive control. Plants were inoculated and the symptoms were evalu-ated during 25 days. It was possible to visualize the symptoms of virus infection at various stages of development in the plant, confirming the virulence of PepYMV isolate used for the inoculation. An area under the disease progress curve was calculated and subjected to generation means analysis. Only the average and epistatic effects were significant. The broad and narrow sense heritability estimates for disease resis-tance were 35.52 and 21.79%, respectively. The estimate of the min-imum number of genes that control resistance was seven, indicating that resistance is polygenic and complex. Thus, methods to produce segregant populations that advocate selection in more advanced gener-ations would be the most appropriate to produce chili pepper cultivars resistant to PepYMV.

Contact Information: Rosana Rodrigues, Plant Breeding Department, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Avenida Alberto La-mego, 2000, Parque Califórnia, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil, 28013-602, Phone 55(22)27396716, Email: [email protected]

Resistance to Anthracnose in Capsicum spp Accessions

R. Rodrigues1, S. de A. M. da Silva1, L. S. A. Gonçalves1, A. M. Medeiros1, H. S. de Oliveira1 and C. P. Sudre1

1Plant Breeding Department, UENF, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil

Among the fungal diseases that occur in the sweet and chili pepper crops, the anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.), is one of the most important because chemical control is inef-ficient and when it is used improperly results in fruits contamination. Breeding for resistance to anthracnose is crucial in countries where the cultivation of sweet and chili peppers play an important role in agribusiness, and is a more efficient way to control this disease. This study aimed to investigate the reaction to C. gloeosporioides (Penz.) in 37 Capsicum spp. accessions, in different plant organs (young leaf, immature fruit and ripe fruit); to evaluate the reaction of Capsicum accessions under different environmental conditions: the fruit on the plant in a greenhouse, and detached fruit kept under laboratory condi-tions; to compare these approaches and to identify the most efficient way to evaluate the discrimination between resistant and susceptible genotypes. The study was carried out in three stages for evaluation of the resistance on leaves (first stage); in fruits on the plant (second stage) and in detached fruit (third stage). The first stage was carried out in a growth chamber, controlling temperature (27 ± 2º C), photoperi-od (16h light/8h dark) and humidity (80%). Plantlets were inoculated using a suspension with 1.0x 106 spores/mL. The evaluation was made each 24 hours, from the 3rd to 7th day after inoculation (DAI) and then the plants were transferred to a 5L pots and grown in a greenhouse,

until the next inoculation steps, performed in immature fruit and later in mature fruit stages. In inoculated fruits, the evaluation was done every 24 hours for seven days to determine the incubation period. The data from periodic observations were used to calculate the Area Under the Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC). The phenotypic variables based on rate scale for fruits kept in plants and detached fruits were ana-lyzed using Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test by using R program. No symptoms were observed in plantlets, however, strong and typical symptoms were noticed for immature and mature fruits, depending on the accession. Two Capsicum baccatum accessions, UENF 1797 and UENF 1718, were identified as resistant to anthracnose. For breeding program aiming to anthracnose resistance is recommended to evaluate fruits in different stages and environmental conditions to identify the different genes that can be involved in controlling this disease.

Contact Information: Rosana Rodrigues, Plant Breeding Department, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Avenida Alberto La-mego, 2000, Parque Califórnia, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil, 28013-602, Phone 55(22)27396716, Email: [email protected]

Cultural Practices for Indeterminate Bell Pepper Production in Central America and the Dominican Republic.

Bielinski M. Santos1, Teresa P. Salame-Donoso1, Henner A. Obregon-Olivas2, Jessie E. Inestroza3 , Ricardo Galeano3, Maria G. Cuevas4, Marco V. Saenz5, Jose E.Monge5, Mauricio Martinez6, Em-manuel A. Torres-Quezada1, and Carlos J. Mendez-Urbaez4. 1Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, IFAS, University of Florida, Wimauma, FL2Agropecuaria San Antonio, Tecolostote, Nicaragua3Corporacion Dinant, Comayagua, Honduras4 Instituto Dominicano de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Fore-stales, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic5 Laboratorio de Tecnologia Poscosecha, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica; 6 Hidroexpo, San Salvador, El Salvador.

Bell pepper production in Central America and the Caribbean has become one of the main agricultural commodities for exporting into the U.S. and the European Union. To guarantee constant supply and quality, small and medium-size growers use passively-ventilated pro-tective structures like greenhouse and high tunnels. The main goal of those structures is to control the growing environment, reduce pests, and improve fruit quality and yields. Nevertheless, small and medi-um-size growers cannot afford using electric or diesel fans and cooling systems to lower temperatures and relative humidity, which causes increased fruit sun-scalding, lowered fruit number and size, and thus increased postharvest losses (as high as 35% in some colored peppers). Two activities were conducted: a) characterization of cultural practices for bell pepper production under structures in each country, and b) research on planting densities, number of stems, intensity of pruning, and use of sun-protectants to improve yield and postharvest quality in the cultivation of indeterminate bell pepper grown under structures in Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic.

Contact Information: Teresa P. Salame-Donoso, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, IFAS, University of Florida, 14625 CR 672, Wimauma, FL 33598. Phone: 813-633-4127; Fax: 813-634-0001. Email: [email protected]

Performances of Lines Derived through Pure Line Selection from Naga Jolokia x Habanero Orange Cross

S.K.Samanta, Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya Kalyani 741235, W.B.INDIA

The present study was aimed to breed types of Jolokia chilli having consumer preferred attributes of fruit not available in original cultivar


of Naga Jolokia (NJ) or Bhot Jolokia. Peoples of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur and parts of North East India grow this NJ as their traditional crop mainly for use as vegetable. It produces fruits of red colour only, though there are natural variations in different shapes, fruit surface, flavour, pungency and also in adaptability. NJ is claimed to be a natural hybrid between C. chinense and C. frutescens. Hence Habanero Or-ange (HO) which is also a cultivar belonging to C. chinense, was used as pollen parent. Interestingly F1 developed from this cross was dwarf and early flowering by 25-30days, along with beautiful fruit shape of NJ combined with glossy fruit surface of HO. Fruit colour was orange red. Further advancement was made by single plant selection from F2 onwards. Following Pure line selection method a group named as SA-JOLOKIA comprising 38 lines have been developed and evaluated at F6 to assess different fruit characters, yield and other parameters nec-essary for managed production. In general HO bears fruits of average weight of 9-10g, no. of fruits per plant ranges from 150 to 200 and even more in a rare individual. Similarly NJ usually bears fruits of 3-8g , less because of thinner skin in comparison to HO. Fruits/plant ranges from 100 to 180 including small and big fruits. NJ is taller and bigger in canopy formation. While comparing the lines of Sajolokia, it was observed improvement in earliness, fruit weight, and yield per plant and fruit skin colour. Out of 38 lines, 10 lines were early flow-ering and bearing by 12-15 days. Similarly all types of fruits shape improved in fruit skin smoothness and brightness. Further thrust was on selection of yellow or orange Jolokia types. Interestingly among 15 lines selected as yellow in general, showed different gradation of the colour required to satisfy buyers of fresh fruits. When dried under computerised vacuum dehumidified drier, all red lines retained colour as bright as observed in fresh, but all yellow lines differ greatly in dried colour. All these 38 lines yielded fruits in between 9-10g each and no of fruits per plant range in between 180-200. No much variation was observed in pedicel length and weight. Moreover this experiment was carried out under low cost poly-greenhouse and irrigation and fertiliser were applied through drip system. Response was better in comparison to both the parents.

Contact Information: Dr. S.K. Samanta, Joint Director of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, Nadia, West Ben-gal, 741252,INDIA, e-mail:[email protected]

The Age Affects Germination of Seeds of Piquin Chili

A. Sandoval R. and A. Benavides M. Department of Horticulture, Antonio Narro University. Saltillo, Coahuila, México K. Alva R. and M. E. Vazquez BComputing and Department of Plant Breeding. Antonio Narro Uni-versity. Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Keywords: Latency, viability, wild chilies, production, domestication

A major problem for the domestication and subsequent agricultural production of wild chili or piquin chili (Capsicum annuum var. Avicu-lare. D’Arcy & Eshbaugh Dierb) is the low rate of germination of seed, according to the literature, attributed to the impermeability of the tes-ta and physiological dormancy. Furthermore, in previous tests, it was observed that the germination rate was different according to the age of the seed. Therefore the present study was designed with purpose to know the cause or causes of the limited percentage of germination and determine if the seed treatment with gibberellic acid and potassium nitrate increased germination. We used seeds from red and fresh fruits of 0.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 13.0 months after extracted, a representative of the region ecotype of Linares, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The seeds were ben-efited subsequently underwent tests: hydration in distilled water, via-bility tests with tetrazolium chloride staining and germination tests on seeds treated with gibberellic acid and potassium nitrate. The results show that the seed of wild chili is not waterproof, as it absorbs mois-

ture 85 percent during the first 12 hours of hydration. The tetrazolium chloride staining showed that: freshly harvested seeds are not viable, seeds of more than 1 year decreases the percentage of viable seeds and the highest percentages of viability were found in seeds from 2 months to 7 months. Germination of seed treated with gibberellic acid and potassium nitrate, was not different than the control.

Contact Information: A. Sandoval R. , Phone: 8444110303, email: [email protected]

Eco-Friendly IPM Modules Against Sucking and Chewing Pests of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.): Indian Perspective

P.K.Sarkar, G. P.Timsina and S.K.Samanta Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, INDIA

Chilli thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood),aphids (Aphis gossypii Glov-er), broad mite (Polyphagotarsonemus latus Banks) and fruit borer ( Heliothes armigera Hubner) are major sucking and chewing pests of chilli in Indian sub-continent inflicting yield loss up to 75 % or more. Now-a-days, IPM has been attaining immense importance in the agricultural scenario of India and abroad. Hence formulation of a sustainable IPM module was felt necessary under West Bengal, India, where vegetable cultivation is done mostly by the small and marginal farmers. Thus, experiments were attempted in a farmer’s field located at Ranaghat, Nadia, West Bengal, India during two consecutive years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 to assess the performance of four different IPM modules against different pests of green chilli (cv:Suryamukhi), apprehending reduction, dependence and reliance on chemical pesti-cides and subsequently ecological deterioration. Out of the different IPM modules, module: I (M-I) comprised of organics and safer insec-ticide and was found to be the most effective module against sucking pest complex (aphids, thrips, mites) vis-a-vis chilli fruit borer, and the prevailing natural enemies (Amblyseius sp., Spiders,Chielomenes sexmacculata, Coccinella septempunctata and Stethorus sp.) in chilli eco-system were moderately safe (average 8.45% mortality) . Yield of green chilli was higher (13.16 q/ha) in M-I (marigold trap crop, vermicompost 2.5 t/ha + neem cake 250kg/ha (devoid of recommend-ed dose of fertilizers, i.e RDF) superimposed with sequential applica-tion of insecticides like neemazal TS @ 2 ml/l (5 WAT), diafenthiuron @ 1g/l (8 WAT), flubendiamide @ 0.2 ml/l (11 WAT) and neemazal T.S.@ 2.5 ml/l at 14 WAT) followed by module :II (11.25q/ha), (M-II) (marigold trap crop+ neemcake 500 kg/ha + vermicompost 1.25 t/ha + without RDF) superimposed with sprays of NSKE @ 5%(5 WAT), abamectin @ 0.75 ml/l (8 WAT), spinosyn @ 0.3 ml/l (11 WAT) and NPV @250 LE/ha (14 WAT) and module: III (M-III) (neemcake 125 kg/ha + vermicompost 625 kg/ha at transplanting (TP) and at 50 DAT (50% N and 100% P&K) superimposed with sprays of nimbecidine @ 5 ml/l (2 WAT), NSKE @ 5% (5 WAT), nimbicidine @ 5 ml/l (7 WAT), NSKE @ 5% (11WAT) . In module III, the natural enemies were total-ly undisturbed even their population was found to be increased in time hours. Further, highest B:C (benefit:cost) ratio was recorded in M-III followed by M-IV: (cent per cent RDF+ recommended plant protec-tion (RPP) followed by application two rounds of emamectin benzoate (@ 0.3 ml/l) (2WAT) and propargite (2.5 ml/l) ( 5 WAT) + carbaryl (4 g/l) (7, 11 WAT) + M-I. Hence, M-III in comparison with M-I and M-II seemed to be a quite promising strategy (yield of green chilli:12.32q/ha) as it did not require any insecticidal interference keeping natural enemy eco-system undisturbed.

Contact Information: P.K.Sarkar, Professor, Department of Agricul-tural Entomology,Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, 741252,INDIA,Mobile: +91 9433565168/ +91 9831238674, e-mail: [email protected]


Bell Peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) Grown Under Diffuse Glass

C. Sauviller11Research Centre Hoogstraten, Meerle, Belgium

Diffuse glass is a serious item of interest in greenhouse vegetable pro-duction nowadays. Different studies have shown positive effects of diffuse light on the growth and development of crops such as cucumber and tomato. This is due to a better permeation of light deeper in the crop. In 2011 an experiment was set up at the Research Centre Hoogstraten to study the effect of diffuse light on a bell pepper crop. Plant de-velopment, production and fruit quality of bell pepper plants were evaluated in two greenhouse compartments of approximately 500 m²: one with standard horticultural glass (hemispherical transmis-sion 83.5%) and one with diffuse glass (hemispherical transmission 79.8%, haze 58%). Measurements of photosynthetically active radi-ation at different depths in the crops canopy showed more radiation under diffuse glass, but not close to the top of the plants where there was an equal to lesser amount of light due to the lower transmission characteristics of the diffuse glass. Crop length was similar under diffuse glass, leaves were slightly longer and wider, and there was a higher number of fruits set. Total production increased with 2.8% due to a higher number of fruits, there was no difference in average fruit weight. There was no significant difference in fruit quality be-tween the two compartments but due to a cool summer it was hard so see any differences and furthermore overall fruit quality was good. In 2012 the experiment is repeated and similar measurements are car-ried out. Additionally photosynthetic capacity of the leaves will be compared between the two greenhouse compartments. Preliminary results show that the photosynthetic capacity of leaves under diffuse glass is not higher then those under standard horticultural glass. Pro-duction results until the end of June show a slightly higher number of harvested fruits but a significantly lower fruit weight leading to a production under the diffuse glass that is 1.7% lower than under the standard glass. More research is needed to explain these results and to determine whether diffuse glass benefits greenhouse bell pepper pro-duction.

Contact Information: C. Sauviller, Research Centre Hoogstraten, Voort 71, 2328 Meerle, Belgium, Phone: + 32-3315-70-52, Email: [email protected]

Internal Fruit Rot (Fusarium spp.) of Greenhouse Bell Peppers

C. Sauviller1, M. Van Mechelen1, M. Frans2, R. Aerts2, K. Heungens3, K. Van Poucke3, F. Focquet3 en L. Van Herck4 1Research Centre Hoogstraten, Meerle, Belgium 2Research Group Sustainable Crop Protection, Katholieke Hoges-chool Kempen, Geel, Belgium 3Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Plant Sci-ences Unit – Crop Protection, Merelbeke, Belgium 4Research Station for Vegetable Production, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium

Since 2003 the cultivation of bell peppers in Belgium has to deal with a new disease that leads to internal fruit rot and is caused by Fusarium species. Infection takes place in the flowering stage. The pathogen stays latent during the growth of the fruit after which fungal mycelium can develop during ripening, but most-ly after harvest, causing internal and later external fruit rot. Around 75% of the isolates obtained from diseased fruits belonged to the Fusarium lactis species complex (FLASC). F. oxysporum and F. prolif-eratum were also isolated but less frequently, 14% and 9% respectively. The pathogenicity of these Fusarium species was studied in assays using fruit as well as flower inoculation on different cultivars. Differences in pathogenicity were most clearly observed after fruit inoculation. These results however were not consistent with the results of flower inocula-tion, which is considered more representative, that showed only very

little difference between the Fusarium species. Furthermore there was also an impact of the cultivar on the development of internal fruit rot. To gain a better insight in the latent phase of the infection process and particularly to study the development of the frequency of la-tent infections during the growing period of the fruit an experiment was set up and repeated three times over the course of the growing season. The presence of Fusarium in the flowers and in the fruits was determined at several time points between flowering and har-vest using traditional surface disinfection and plating techniques using either natural infection or artificially inoculated (FLASC) flowers. The frequency of latently infected fruits stayed at a sim-ilar level from flower to harvest, indicating only very limited op-portunities to affect the disease after initial infection took place. Preventing initial infection will thus be an important factor in the con-trol of internal fruit rot. One way to reduce the amount of initial infec-tions may be the removal of withering tissues such as pistil and petals, as preliminary results have shown that these were frequently saprophyt-ically colonized with FLASC isolates. Several experiments indicated however that such removal was not successful, suggesting that the in-fection process is quite fast and that the number of airborne spores is in-sufficiently lowered by the removal of withering flowering structures. As our study to gain more insights into this pathosystem goes on, op-portunities for sustainable control of internal fruit rot, such as preven-tion of flower infection by biological control agents, and screening for disease resistance, are being explored.

Contact Information: C. Sauviller, Research Centre Hoogstraten, Voort 71, 2328 Meerle, Belgium, Phone: + 32-3315-70-52, Email: [email protected]

Control of Broad Mite, Polyphagotarsonemus latus and the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci in Open Field Pepper and Eggplant with Predaceous Mites

Philip A. Stansly and José Castillo University Of Florida – IFAS - SWFREC Immokalee Fl 34142 USA

The broad mite, Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks), and the sweet-potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) are serious pests of pep-per and eggplant in Florida and elsewhere. In greenhouse-grown pep-per, both pests have been controlled by Ambylseius swirskii and broad mite has been controlled by A. cucumeris. However, there are few reports regarding the effectiveness of these Phytoseiid mites in open field pepper or eggplant. We evaluated both predaceous mites in egg-plant and ‘Serrano’ pepper in experimental plots in southwest Florida, and also assessed control of broad mite in ‘bell’ pepper on a commer-cial farm in the same region. Both mites controlled broad mite on both crops, although fewer releases were necessary and better control was achieved with A. swirskii than with A. cucumeris. In addition, A. swirskii controlled B. tabaci which is an especially important pest of eggplant in this region. Both pepper and eggplant receiving A. swirskii yielded significantly more fruit than untreated plants or even eggplants receiving two acaricide sprays. However, initial cost of releasing A. swirskii in eggplant exceeded average insecticide costs by a factor of 2 or more. Furthermore, A. swirskii did not provide adequate control of the spidermite Tetranychus urticae Koch, another important pest of this crop in south Florida. Therefore, further research was conducted to define lower effective rates of A. swirskii and combinations with Neoseiulus californicus, a spidermite specific predator.

Contact Information: Phil Stansly, University Of Florida – IFAS Southwest Florida Researchand Education Center 2685 State Road 29 North, Immokalee Fl 34142 USA, Phone 239-658-3400, FAX 239-658-3469 email: [email protected]


Flavor Enhancement of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum) through Introgressions From Related Germplasm

Albrecht, Elena1, Robert A. Saftner2, John R. Stommel3, Eunhee Park2

1Keygene Inc., Rockville, MD 2Food Quality Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 3Genetic Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD

Bell pepper is an economically important vegetable in many parts of the world. For several decades, breeding efforts in bell pepper have been focused on yield, fruit morphology and disease resistances. As a result, modern varieties are depleted in aromatics compared to landra-ces or wild-types from related Capsicum germplasm. In an exhaustive germplasm screen we characterized both genetic and flavor (volatiles, sugars, organic acids, capsaicinoids, sensorial attributes) diversity in wild types and landraces of Capsicum baccatum, a species known for its fragrant fruit aromatics, in order to select the most promising flavor sources for the development of intraspecific (C. annuum x C. bacca-tum) experimental populations and interspecific (C. annuum x C. bac-catum) introgression material. Two SNP assays were developed, infor-mative for interspecific (C. annuum x C. baccatum) and intraspecific (within C. baccatum) polymorphisms, respectively. Phenotyping trials were carried out at two locations, a greenhouse and an open field loca-tion. QTL detection was executed at several levels in order to reduce the complexity of the trait (flavor) and develop molecular markers for application in MABC.

Contact Information: John R. Stommel, Genetic Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Bldg. 010A, BARC-West, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705. Phone (301) 504-5583, Email: [email protected]

Major Fungal Diseases of Chilli (Capsicum annum) in West Bengal, India and its Management

Jayanta Tarafdar1, P.K. Sarkar2 and S.K. Samanta1

1Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani 741235, West Bengal, India 2Department of Agricultural Entomology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India

Chilli (Capsicum annum) is one the most important cash crop in the state West Bengal, India and use as green chilli in all food stuffs. It is grown through out the year in this state but damping off in the nursery and anthracnose and fruit rot, Choaniphora and Phytophthora blight diseases in the standing crop are the most important fungal disease complex which cause severe damage of the crop especially in summer chilli. From recent past blight appears in epidemic form and damage the crops in no time in West Bengal. It has been found that hot, humid climate and heavy down pour in rainy season aggravates the pathogens to aggressively spread in chilli fields. Most of the growers fail to com-bat the rapid development of the blight and fruit rot due to improper management of the crops. Our present study was aimed to develop the strategic applications of fungicides to provide best effective control of the prevalent fungal diseases of chilli. The protectant and curative fungicides with different mode of action and combination products were evaluated as seedbed treatment as well as foliar sprays in the field and also in vitro condition against the pathogens. Single appli-cation of Metalaxyl-M + MZB (4 + 64) WG (Redomil Gold) @ 0.3% at four leaves stage of the chilli seedlings was most effective for con-trolling the damping off disease in chilli caused by Pythium spp. and Rhizoctonia solani and improved the seedling vigor with profuse root system. Routine application of Combination products Azoxystrobin 12% +Tebuconazole 20% SC @ 600ml/ha or Azoxystrobin 18.2% + Difenoconazole 11.4% @ 500ml/ha and Metiram 55% + Pyraclostrob-

in 5% WDG @ 1500g/ha at 15 days interval halted the progress of die-back, fruit rot and powdery mildew infection and attributed sig-nificant reduction of diseases intensity and thereby improved the crop health. The above combination products were found to induce host enzyme system during pathogenesis and effectively seize the second-ary growth of the pathogens causing anthracnose and fruit rot and in-hibit sporulation of powdery mildew pathogen. Strobilurin fungicides (Azoxystrobin 23%SC) @ 750ml/ha and Cymoxanil + Mancozeb 72% WP @ 2500g/ha suppressed the development of the blight in chilli and delivered very effective and flexible control of Choaniphora and Phy-tophthora blight in chilli during rainy season and halted the secondary spread of the pathogen. In vitro studies, the exposure to Azoxystrob-in, Mandipropamid and Mancozeb, Cymoxanil, Metalaxyl caused aberration of fungal structures, massive coagulation of zoosporangial primordial of Phytophthora sp., induced meandering of mycelia that caused rapid collapse of sporangia on chilli plant.

Contact Information: Jayanta Tarafdar, Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal, 741252, INDIA, Phone: 91-33-25823948; Fax: 91-33-25828407, e-mail: [email protected]

Present Status of Chilli Virus Diseases in West Bengal, India

Jayanta Tarafdar, Nayan Kishor Adhikary and Nilima Karmakar Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (State Agricultural University), West Bengal, India Chilli (Capsicum annum) is one the most important cash crop in the state West Bengal India and preferably cultivated for supply of green chilli. The virus diseases like leaf curl begomo virus of single strand-ed DNA particle and the symptoms like Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) of Bunyaviridae appear in severe form in chilli fields and cause tremendous loss of the crop. Chilli leaf curl virus (ChiLCV) manifest the symptoms of severe curling of leaves, shortening of in-ternodes and petiole with stunted growth and severe deformation of leaf and floral primordial. Besides this, in many fields the symptoms like chlorotic rings and brown steaks on the leaves with premature yellowing and drying of twigs and brown specks on the green fruits are found to be very common and also cause severe yield loss. The leaf curl virus was detected by using specific primers with the amplified product of 920bp and sequenced. Further, DNA-Hybridization assay confirmed the presence of Gemini virus infection in chilli samples. In order to define the genomic structure and the taxonomic status of this chilli leaf curl virus, the nucleotide sequence of its genomic segment has been determined. Molecular characterization of the virus isolate from the epidemic field revealed the association of ChiLCV with the disease.To verify whether the TSWV like symptoms of chilli indeed represents a distinct tospovirus species was determined using Tospo specific primers. The leaf samples of TSWV-like symptom collected from different locations of West Bengal were only composed of Torspo virus and gave amplification product of the expected size ~420 bp. At best, this was tentative identification of the virus at that time due to the paucity of the information of the nature of virus or its genome in this province of India. Contact Information: Jayanta Tarafdar, Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal, 741252, INDIA, Phone: 91-33-25823948; Fax: 91-33-25828407, e-mail: [email protected]

Response of Pepper (Capsicum annuum) Genotypes to Co-infec-tion by Phytophthora capsici and Meloidogyne incognita

Judy A. Thies1, Jennifer J. Ariss1, and Chandrasekar S. Kousik1. 1U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Charleston, S.C


Phytophthora capsici, the causal agent of Phytophthora blight, and Meloidogyne incognita, the southern root-knot nematode, are both im-portant pathogens of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in the U.S. and worldwide. The loss of methyl bromide as a pre-plant fumigant has stimulated the search for alternative control methods for both root-knot nematodes and P. capsici. Host resistance to nematodes and dis-eases, if available, provides an environmentally friendly alternative to methyl bromide. Although bell pepper cultivars with resistance to P. capsici or M. incognita are available, no bell cultivar possesses resis-tance to both of these pathogens. Furthermore, there is no information about the effects of co-infection of these two organisms on disease and nematode development in pepper. Thus, we investigated the re-sponses of pepper genotypes that differed in resistance to P. capsici and M. incognita to co-infection by both organisms. Pepper genotypes were: ‘Charleston Belle’, a root-knot nematode resistant bell pepper; CM-334, a serrano-type pepper resistant to both root-knot nematode and P. capsici; PR 13x14-R4 (Pepper Research, Inc.), a bell pepper with moderately high resistance to P. capsici; ‘Aristotle’, a bell pepper moderately resistant to P. capsici; and ‘Jupiter’, a bell pepper highly susceptible to P. capsici. Pepper seedlings were grown in 25-cm-diam pots in a greenhouse at temperatures ranging from 25 to 32 C. The ex-perimental design was a 2 x 2 factorial arranged in a randomized com-plete block with 4 replicates. The treatments were +/- P. capsici and +/- M. incognita. Soil surrounding the roots of each plant in one-half of the pots was infested with 10,000 eggs of M. incognita when plants were 28 days old. After 24 days, plants in were inoculated with 50,000 zoospores of P. capsici. Percent root galling, percent stem necrosis at crown, and percent root necrosis were rated 28 days post-inoculation with P. capsici or earlier, if plants exhibited severe wilting. CM 334 and Charleston Belle exhibited high resistance to RKN (average per-cent root galling = 3.9 and 1.2, respectively). Jupiter, Aristotle, and PR 13x14-R4 (Pepper Research, Inc.) were susceptible to RKN (av-erage percent root galling = 59.7, 37.8, and 60.1, respectively). CM 334 was resistant to P. capsici with 4.3% root necrosis and 9.3% stem necrosis. The other genotypes were susceptible; Jupiter, Aristotle, PR 13x14-R4, and Charleston Belle exhibited 37.2, 39.9, 43.5, and 21.7% root necrosis, respectively, and 100, 99.4, 82.0, and 62.5 % stem ne-crosis. These results indicate that M. incognita did not significantly predispose either P. capsici resistant or susceptible peppers to Phy-tophthora blight.

Contact Information: Judy A. Thies, U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, USDA, ARS, 2700 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC. Telephone: (843) 402-5300. E-mail: [email protected]

Effects of In-Row Distances on Indeterminate Bell Pepper Culti-vars under High Tunnels in Florida

Emmanuel A. Torres*and Bielinski M. Santos Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, IFAS, University of Florida

Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) production under protective struc-tures improves fruit quality and yield. There is a large diversity of bell pepper cultivars. Each cultivar differs in growth habit, fruit size, and market characteristics, thus cultural practices requirements might be different. Little research has been conducted in Florida for in-row spacing of bell pepper under high tunnel conditions. A field study was conducted to determine the effects of in-row spacing on indeterminate bell pepper growth and yield. In 2011, twelve treatments resulted from the com-bination of indeterminate bell peppers ‘Maquina’, ‘Dalia’, ‘Maria’, and ‘Bragui’ transplanted in single rows at 20, 25, and 30 cm between plants. There was a significant interaction between cultivars and in-row spacing for total marketable yield. Fruit weight and fruit number was only affected by cultivars. There was a significant difference in

total fruit number per plant between in-row distances. Data showed no significant difference between ‘Bragui’ at 20 and 30 cm, ‘Maria’ at 20 and 25 cm, ‘Dalia’ at 20, 25 and 30 cm and ‘Maquina’ at 20 cm for total marketable yield. These results supported that planting distances as close as 20 cm did not reduce total marketable yield per plant, al-lowing to increase total marketable yields and space utilization under high tunnels.

Contact Information: E. Amable Torres-Quezada, Horticultural Sci-ences Department, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, IFAS, University of Florida, 14625 county road 672, Wimauma, FL 33598 USA, Phone: 813-633-4128, Email: [email protected]

A Novel Push-Pull Method for Managing Thrips in Bell Peppers

K.A. Tyler-Julian1, G. Frantz2, J.E. Funderburk1, C. Mellinger2, and S. Reitz3. 1 University of Florida, North Florida Research and Education Center, Quincy, FL2 Glades Crop Care, Inc. Jupiter, FL 3 Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Agri-cultural Research Service, USDA, 6383 Mahan Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32308, USA

The western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) presents a ma-jor problem to farmers of fruiting vegetables by injuring fruits and vectoring Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). Previous attempts at controlling this species using calendar applications of broad-spectrum insecticides were ineffective. The need for comprehensive, sustainable thrips management programs that do not rely solely on insecticide ap-plications has become even greater following the recent discovery in Florida of Groundnut ringspot virus, also vectored by this and possibly other common crop-infesting flower thrips species, notably F. bispi-nosa and F. schultzei. Ultraviolet-reflective mulches effectively repel thrips and reduce the incidence of TSWV. Furthermore, combining multiple management tactics into a push-pull strategy is effective in other crop systems with other pests. The current study tested combi-nations of ultraviolet-reflective mulch, black mulch, and a kaolin clay spray with companion plantings of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) for thrips management in bell peppers in Florida over 2 years. Ultravio-let-reflective mulch reduced numbers of thrips (F. bispinosa) through-out the season during the first year. During the second year, kaolin clay effectively suppressed thrips numbers for the first three weeks. After the second week the sunflower companion plantings significantly re-duced thrips numbers and attracted high numbers of the minute pirate bug, the major predator of thrips. The results of the study suggest that a combination of using ultraviolet-reflective plastic mulch, companion plantings of sunflowers, and early season applications of kaolin clay is an effective method to reduce populations of thrips.

Contact Information: K.Tyler-Julian. North Florida Research and Education Center. University of Florida. 155 Research Rd. Quincy, Fl 32351. Phone: 850-875-7184. Email: [email protected]. Glades Crop Care, Inc. 949 Turner Quay, Jupiter, FL 33458. Phone: 561.746.3740, Fax 561.746.3775, Cell: 239.633.1368, Email: [email protected]

Diversity of Pungent Capsicum in Peru and its Potential in Rural Development

Roberto Ugas1 and Victor Mendoza2

1, 2 Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru

Having originated in the Central Andes, the genus Capsicum is now found in every country in the world. The diversity within Peru, howev-er, has received little attention, even though the five cultivated species can be found in markets and homegardens. We have developed the first classification of the chili peppers of Peru based on regional abun-


dance, farming system, fruit type and species, where twenty types or ‘varieties’ are proposed as a starting point. The Northern Coast and the Central Amazon are the regions with the highest diversity of reported chili types. Diverse farming systems range from the garden or small farm intercropped with annuals or perennials to the large monocul-tures destined to the local processing industry that has experimented a considerable growth in recent years. This work is derived from a germplasm collection and the work of a research team involved in di-versity studies, taxonomic identification, morphological and molecular characterization as well as physical and chemical studies of fruits. The challenge remains to make use of this diversity to improve smallhold-er agriculture and develop more sustainable value chains: options are discussed, particularly organic farming and the peasant-cook alliance promoted in Peru in connection with the gastronomic boom. The con-tribution of two research projects (VLIR-UNALM and GIZ-Bioversi-ty) is acknowledged.

Contact Information: Roberto Ugás, Programa de Hortal-izas-UNALM, Apartado 12-056 La Molina, Lima 12, Peru. Phone: (511) 348 5796, Email: [email protected]

Genomic Localization of bs5 and bs6 in the Pepper Genome Z-H Yu1, R. E. Stall2, J. B. Jones2, G. V. Minsavage2, C. E. Vallejos1

1Department of Horticultural Sciences, University of Florida. Gaines-ville, FL. USA 2Department of Plant Pathology. University of Florida. Gainesville, FL. USA

Xanthomonas euvesicatoria is the causal agent of bacterial spot in peppers. This disease can exert significant damage to pepper produc-tion in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world where high temperatures and frequent precipitation provide ideal conditions for disease development. This disease represents a constant threat to the 25,000 acres of pepper grown in the State of Florida which have an approximately crop value of a quarter billion dollars. Three dominant resistances to bacterial spot have been deployed in recent years, but have been defeated by the instability of the corresponding avirulence genes from the pathogen. The breeding line ECW12346 was shown to possess a non-HR resistance to all known pepper races of X. euvesi-catoria. Genetic analysis of this resistance has shown it is controlled by two recessive genes, bs5 and bs6. Although each one of these genes confers partial resistance to the pathogen, alone these genes are rendered ineffective by temperatures in excess of 30o C. However, in combination they confer full resistance and show positive epistatic interactions at elevated temperatures. Preliminary analysis with PCR and morphological markers identified the approximate chromosome location of these genes. We have generated interspecific F2 progenies segregating for a single gene to identify the exact map position of these resistances in the pepper genome. Segregation and linkage analyses have been carried out with the “genotyping by sequencing” method. This technique yields a large number of single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers. Markers flanking the resistance loci could be used in breeding programs to facilitate introgression of these genes into com-mercial cultivars.

Contact Information: C Eduardo Vallejos, Department of Horticultur-al Sciences, University of Florida, PO Box 110690, Gainesville, FL 32611-0690, Phone (352) 273-4845, Email: [email protected]

Genotype x Environment Interaction and Stability Analysis of Hot Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Genotypes in Southern India

C. Venkata Ramana, L.Naram Naidu, S.Surya Kumari, P.Venkata Reddy, C. Sarada, T. Vijaya Lakshmi and P. Vijaya Lakshmi Dr. YSR Horticultural University. Horticultural Research Station, Lam Farm, Guntur-522 034, Andhra Pradesh, India

The objective of this study was to identify the stability of seven Hot pepper genotypes that have been developed at Horticultural Research Station (HRS), Lam Farm, Guntur. Seventeen Hot Pepper genotypes including one standard check LCA-334 were evaluated in three rep-lications for five years (during kharif 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011) for their stability performance at HRS, Lam in Andhra Pradesh for nine quantitative characters. Data was collected on nine quanti-tative characters viz., plant height, plant spread, number of branches per plant, number of fruits per plant, pod length (cm), pod girth (cm), number of seeds per pod, 1000 seed weight (g), dry pod yield (kg/ ha).The biometrical data was analyzed for stability using Eberhart and Russell (1966) method. The analysis of variance revealed that the genotypes were significant for number of branches/plant, pod length (cm), dry pod yield (kg/ ha). Env. + (Var.* Env.) was significant for all the characters studied except number of seeds per pod. Environments, Environments (Linear) and pooled deviation were significant for all the characters. The genotypes LCA-620, LCA-625 and LCA-639 had av-erage stability and high per se performance for yield and yield contrib-uting characters. These genotypes are recommended for commercial cultivation and can also be effectively utilized in the recombination breeding programs to enhance genetic variability in Hot pepper.

Contact Information: Chittaiahgari Venkata Ramana, Phone: 919440592982, Email: [email protected]

Problems and Prospects of Hot Pepper Research in India – A Review

C. Venkata Ramana, L.Naram Naidu, T. Vijaya Lakshmi, C.Sarada and P. Vijaya Lakshmi Dr. YSR Horticultural University. Horticultural Research Station, Andhra Pradesh, India

Hot pepper is one of the important spice crops of India having great export potentiality. India is a world leader in hot pepper production fol-lowed by China and Pakistan. Its production level however around 1.2 million tones annually. India also has the maximum area dedicated to the production of this crop. It is cultivated in all states and union territo-ries of the country. As per the latest statistics, India produced 12,23400 tonnes of dry hot pepper from area of 7,92100 hectares (2010-11). The systematic and pioneering work carried out at Horticultural Research Station, Lam Farm, Guntur leads to the development of thirteen varieties viz., G1, G2, G3, Bhagya laxmi (G4), Andhra Jyo-thi (G5), Sindhur (CA 960), Kiran (LCA 200), Aparna (CA1068), Bhaskar (LCA 235), Prakash (LCA 206), LCA 305, LCA-334 (Lam 334) and LCA-353 (Lam 353). The technologies developed and the varieties released by this station have been readily accepted and adopted by the hot pepper growers and resulted in higher pro-duction of quality hot peppers which made Andhra Pradesh as num-ber one state in production and productivity in the country contrib-uting for considerable foreign exchange earnings to the country. Out of over 1.2 million tonnes of hot pepperes produced in In-dia only less than 20 percent is exported. The main reasons are high heat, pesticide residues and detection of aflatoxins, lower colour intensity and retention. Moreover, preservation of attrac-tive typical red colour and retention of the pungency during stor-age have become problems. However, the post harvest handling and value addition of hot pepper was not given much importance. Thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis), mites (Polyphagotarsonemus latus), virus diseases, fungal diseases like fruit rot, powdery mildew, and bacterial wilt and spots are the limiting factors in pepper produc-tion. Recently merging diseases of hot pepper, phytothora blight/wilt, gemini virus/ begomo virus and tospo virus are causing major yield and quality reduction. Whitefly transmitted hot pepper leaf curl virus disease caused by begomo virus is becoming national threat for hot


pepper cultivation. The solution for managing these biotic constraints on a sustained basis exists in adopting eco-friendly approaches like developing and using resistant cultivars. There are no specific resistant cultivars in Capsicum germplasm against insect pests and the limited known resistant cultivars are not suitable to the varied agroclimatic conditions, consumption preferences of the people, undesirable horti-cultural traits as small fruit size, late maturity, and low yield Cultivars having known sources of resistance to important pests like thrips and mites were identified and some of them viz., Pusa Jwala, Pant C-1, Pant C-2, G-4, LCA-235 and Musalwadi are under cultivation by the farmers across India. This limitation is causing dearly to the productiv-ity of peppers in India because the resource poor farmers do not have any other means of defense except to go in for chemical insecticides to control not just the insect pests but the diseases like leaf curl caused by them leading to severe economic losses. Breeding for multiple disease and pest resistance is scanty in pepper research. Lack of research work in finding out the genes responsible for the field resistance reported in certain genotypes is also responsible for the dead lock in developing resistant cultivars. In order to realize this and fix the attributes to the resistance, qualitative and quantitative analysis of the existing germ-plasm for identification of genes of resistance to these pests need to be investigated and understood. Genetic analysis of genotypes to identify the candidate genes will go a long way in developing resistant cultivars against this biotic and abiotic stress.Contact Information: *Contact Information: Chittaiahgari Venkata Ramana, Phone: 919440592982, Email: [email protected] Comparative Effects of Deficit Irrigation in NM Landrace and Commercial Chile Cultivars

Stephanie Walker

Chile (Capsicum annuum) is one of New Mexico’s leading horticul-tural commodities. Communities in northern New Mexico have deep rooted traditions of cultivating landrace chile varieties including ‘Chi-mayo’. The chile landraces are highly adapted to growing conditions in northern New Mexico and have been touted for greater ability to withstand stressful growing conditions compared to commercial cul-tivars. Recently the pressure on farmers to conserve water has intensi-fied due to drought conditions in the southwest. There is also evidence that chile heat level (SHU) and extractable color (ASTA) may be im-pacted by water stress in plants. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of deficit irrigation on heat level and extractable color in two commercial chile cultivars (Big Jim and Sandia) and a landrace cultivar (Chimayo). The field was located in northern New Mexico at New Mexico State University’s Science Center in Alcalde, NM. Seeds were planted in the greenhouse on March 14, 2011, and transplanted to the field on May 17. The field experiment was a block design with three replications with four treatments, three subplots (3 m by 2.7 m) per replication, and thirty plants per subplot. Irrigation stress treatments started on June 20. Four treatments were applied: 7 days (optimal watering), 9, 11, and 13 days (drought stress watering). Armin poly-pipe (20.3 cm) with 7.6 cm gates was used to furrow ir-rigate each row, with a Samani measurement flume in place to mea-sure and ensure uniform water applications. Plants were harvested on August 12 and evaluated for extractable color, heat level, and other growth parameters. Results of this study did not support a correlation between deficit irrigation and extractable color. There was no signif-icant difference in extractable color between the different irrigation treatments for either ‘Chimayo’ or ‘Sandia’. (‘Big Jim’, a slower-ma-turing cultivar, was not tested for extractable color because no ripe fruit were available at harvest.) Heat level was not significantly dif-ferent between the irrigation treatments for ‘Chimayo’ and ‘Big Jim’.

‘Sandia’ was significantly hotter at the 9 day treatment (14,927 SHU) compared to the 7 day treatment (5,362 SHU), but neither of these levels was significantly different compared to the 11 day (9,312 SHU) and 13 day (10,605 SHU) irrigation treatments. These results suggest that accumulation of pigments that contribute to overall extractable color in chile fruits is not significantly impacted by drought stress at the irrigation levels tested in this experiment. Heat level was less stable in ‘Sandia’ versus ‘Chimayo’ and ‘Big Jim’, however fruit heat level was not clearly correlated to drought stress in this study. Contact Information: Stephanie J. Walker, Plant and Environ-mental Sciences Dept., New Mexico State University, MSC 3AE, P.O. Box 30003, Las Cruces, NM 88003 USA, Phone: 575-646-4398; Fax: 575-646-8085, Email: [email protected]

Effect of Foliar Applied Potassium Nitrate on Yield and Quality of Capsicum spp.

Billy L. Weir1 and Bob Giampaoli2 1University of California Cooperative Extension, emeritus, Merced, California2Bob Giampaoli, Giampaoli Farms, LeGrand, California It has been demonstrated in numerous field experiments that in-creased yields can be realized by foliar applications of potassium ni-trate during fruit initiation and development. Both cotton and tomato benefit from timely foliar applications from first bloom until approxi-mately two weeks later. This study evaluates the effects of foliar po-tassium nitrate applied to bell peppers (Capsicum ssp.) at a rate of five pounds per acre at two week intervals from bloom to harvest. Foliar applications were made at bloom, 2 weeks later, 4 weeks lat-er and 6 weeks later. Another treatment received applications at all four times, and an untreated check received no potassium nitrate. The test was conducted as a randomized complete block and replicated five times. Three harvests were made at ten day intervals. Total yields were highest in the treatment that received potassium nitrate every 2 weeks for eight weeks. The untreated check produced lowest yields.

Contact Information: Billy L. Weir, University of California Cooper-ative Extension, 3190 Willow Run Drive, Merced, California 95340, Phone (209)777-7950, Email: [email protected]

Breeding Peppers Resistant to Phytophthora capsici

Lindsay Wyatt1, Amara Dunn2, Christine Smart2, and Michael Mazourek1

1Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell University. Ithaca, NY 2Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell University. Ithaca, NY

Phytophthora capsici is an oomycete pathogen that causes disease on peppers and many other vegetable crops in New York and globally. Fungicide-insensitive populations of P. capsici are becoming common and there are no fully resistant pepper cultivars with the desired horti-cultural type; field infestations can lead to total yield loss for multiple years. Our breeding program has advanced bell pepper breeding lines that are resistant to P. capsici. For the past 4 years, we have tested these breeding lines on a Phytophthora research farm in Geneva, NY, with our lines displaying an extremely high level of resistance in the field. To assess our breeding lines alongside commercial varieties and to test whether they can meet the unfulfilled market need for fully resistant bell peppers, we conducted a multi-site replicated yield trial in 2011. The trial demonstrated that our peppers have yields comparable to cur-rent commercial cultivars, producing up to 11 marketable green pep-pers per plant with percentages of marketable fruit of almost 90% and very little loss to blossom end rot or silvering. In addition to university


research plot trials, we sent seed to New York growers affected by Phy-tophthora blight. In general, their experiences reflected our trial data and identified a need for the fruit to be larger, blockier, and ripen earlier. Based on these results, we made crosses between our breeding lines and large-fruited, open-pollinated pepper cultivars with the goal of in-creasing fruit size. In summer 2012, we trialed these F1 hybrids, along with our resistant breeding lines, to test if these hybrids maintained a high level of P. capsici resistance, had larger fruit, and continued to yield well. In addition, we trialed our breeding lines and hybrids in organic conditions to evaluate their utility for organic growers in New York. Breeding is also underway to create stable lines with increased fruit size and other characteristics such as bacterial leaf spot resistance. Feedback from growers has encouraged us to diversify the types of peppers with Phytophthora resistance. Based on the results of a grow-er survey, we have started to cross our most resistant lines into oth-er peppers types. In decreasing order of preference we had requests for jalapeño, banana/hot wax, cayenne, poblano, mini sweet, serrano, anaheim and cherry. These requests for smaller fruited types are eas-ier than increasing the fruit size of bell pepper. The initial hybrids for serrano, jalapeño, and cherry already resemble the target market type and given that the resistance and pungency are largely dominant, they may already be satisfactory. We tested these hybrids for resistance and further evaluated their horticultural characteristics in 2012.

Contact Information: Lindsay Wyatt, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell University, 253 Emerson Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, Phone 440-840-1297, E-mail: [email protected]

Capsicum pubescens in Indonesia: Its Distribution and Cultiva-tion

S. Yamamoto1, T. Djarwaningsih2 and H. Wiriadinata2

1 Research Center for the Pacific Islands, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan 2 Research Center for Biology, Cibinong Science Center, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Cibinong, Indonesia

It is known that Capsicum annuum and C. frutescens are mainly dis-tributed in Southeast Asia. However, specimens (BO-1401702, BO-1401703, BO-1401704) collected in 1916 in Central Java, Indonesia, which were stored in Herbarium Bogoriense as “Capsicum sp.”, were re-identified as C. pubescens. It is also confirmed that C. pubescens is cultivated in the highlands (+1,500m above sea level) of West Java (Sukabumi, Cianjur, Bandung Timur, Bandung Selatan, and Garut) and Central Java (Banjarnegara). People usually do not use any pesti-cide for C. pubescens cultivation, but they can harvest its fruits for two to five years. Fruits of C. pubescens were sold at markets in the high-lands and also lowlands for 3000-29900 Rupiah per kg (10000 Rupiah ≈ 1.14 United States Dollar, Feb. 2012). Local names for C. pubescens are “cabe Bandung”, “cabe gendot”, “cabe gombol”, “cabe gondol”, “cengek bendot”, and “lombok Dien”. A rare accession of C. pubescens was found in Bandung Selatan and Garut; its flower was totally white although its seed color was black and its stem was hairy, which are the characteristic of C. pubescens. It is unclear if the white flower type of C. pubescens was introduced at the same time as the purple flower type into Indonesia or if it occurred as a mutation there. Further botanical survey on C. pubescens is needed in Indonesia to reveal its distribu-tion, diversity and dispersal routes. These genetic resources have a big potential as a good candidate for cash crop in other highlands of Asia.

Contact Information: Sota Yamamoto, Research Center for the Pacific Islands, Kagoshima University, Korimoto 1-21-24, Kagoshima, 890-8580 Japan, Phone +81-99-285-7391, Email: [email protected]

Genetic Analysis and Breeding for Anthracnose Resistance in Chili Pepper

J. B. Yoon1, J. Lee1, and J. W. Do1

1R&D Unit, Pepper & Breeding Institute, Business Incubator, CALS, Seoul National Univ., Republic of Korea

Anthracnose (Colletotrichum spp.) causing serious yield loss and qual-ity deterioration in chili pepper cultivation is one of the most devastat-ing diseases in many Asian countries including Korea and seriousness of the disease are continuously becoming increase in many monsoon areas. The most economical, practical and environmentally friendly measures are resistance breeding but there is no single resistant vari-ety commercialized worldwide. As the genetic resources resistant to anthracnose, some accessions belonging to the related species such as Capsicum chinense and C. baccatum were reported. Among them, only the C. baccatum germplasm were confirmed to be highly resis-tant in Korea. Out of them, a reliable genetic resource, PBC81, was used for genetic analysis and breeding of anthracnose resistance. An interspecific BC1F1 population was successfully developed through overcoming double genetic barriers such as embryo abortion and hy-brid sterility using embryo rescue and intensive backcross techniques. This study was conducted to analyze genetics of the resistance of C. baccatum and to develop the backcross introgression lines (BILs) and commercial F1 variety resistant to anthracnose. Since the resistance of C. baccatum was demonstrated to be inherited quantitatively in the BC1F1 population, molecular linkage mapping and QTL analysis were performed in two introgressed BC1F2 population to dissect genetic na-ture of the resistance. Consequently, two major QTLs commonly as-sociated with the resistance to two different isolates of pathogen were detected and several markers tightly linked to the loci were developed by targeted BSA technique. Based on the procedures on developing interspecific backcross populations, hundreds of BILs showing high-ly resistance and no segregation were selected from the BC1F10 and BC2F9 families. Since we confirmed that the BILs were restorer line in CGMS (cytoplasmic-genic male sterility) system, all the BILs were used as paternal line to make cross combinations with diverse maternal line of GMS (genic male sterility) and CGMS systems. More than 100 F1 varieties are grown in pepper field and their horticultural traits and disease resistance will be thoroughly checked this year. Maybe, some good combinations could be commercialized next year.

Contact Information: Jae Bok Yoon, R&D Unit, Pepper & Breeding Institute, Business Incubator, CALS, Seoul National Univ., Suwon 441-853, Republic of Korea.,Phone: +82-31-296-5797, Email: [email protected].

Pepper Diseases through the Years: A Review

T. A. ZitterDepartment of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Although New York ranks 5th in the country in the acreage of fresh market vegetables, the state production of pepper and tomato remains low. Sweet pepper, either Bell or Cubanelle, dominates the acreage, while hot peppers serve a more limited niche market demand. As goes New York, so the trend applies for the rest of the New England states. Shifting of location and responsibilities from south Florida to Upstate New York saw a dramatic change in the overall size of farm acreage and a slight shift in the pepper pathogens. Gone were the days of working exclusively with Potyviruses, instead dealing occasionally with cucumber mosaic Cucumovirus (wide host range) or tobacco mo-saic Tobamovirus (seedborne) prevailed. Other diseases that predom-inate are seedborne bacteria (bacterial leaf spot) and the quintessential oomycete, Phytophthora blight (P. capsici). Pepper and other vege-


tables have played a serendipity role when working with JMS Stylet Oil (mineral oil) and with harpin (Messenger), a product that elicits a SAR response. These and other advances in science and production methods will be addressed.

Contact Information: Thomas A. Zitter, Department of Plant Pathol-ogy and Plant-Microbe Biology, 334 Plant Science Bldg., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, Phone (607) 255-7857, Email: [email protected]

Collection, Taxonomic Identification and Cropping Methodolo-gies Development for Some Species of Capsicum in Bolivia

T. Avila1, M. Atahuachi1, X. Reyes1, T. Claure1 and M. Van Zonneveld2 1Centro de Investigaciones Fitoecogenéticas de Pairumani, Cocha-bamba Bolivia2Bioversity Internacional, Cali Colombia

Bolivia is a Center of Origin for the genus Capsicum, having a wide genetic diversity. The Pairumani’s Phytoecogenetical Research Cen-ter (CIFP) has a working collection of cultivated and wild species of: Capsicum annuum, C. baccatum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, C. pu-bescens, C. baccatum var. baccatum, C. caballeroi, C. cardenasii, C. ceratocalyx, C. chacoense, C. eximium and C. minutiflorum. In the workframe of the project “Rescue and promotion of native hot-pep-pers in their centers of origin”, financed by the GIZ and being carried by partners from Bolivia, Peru, Germany and Bioversity International, there were carried out collecting missions in order to enrich the collec-tion with new species recently described and also to cover some areas where no collects were done before. There were four collecting mis-sions: in the dry valleys of Chuquisaca and Cochabamba, the valleys and low-lands of Santa Cruz and in the yungas of La Paz. Fruits and herbarium samples were collected from 109 ecotypes belonging to the cultivated species Capsicum baccatum var. pendulum and to the wild species: Capsicum eximium, C. caballeroi, C. chacoense, C. bacctum var. baccatum, C. minutiflorum, C. ceratocalyx and C. cardenasii. The cultivated hot-pepper samples were obtained from the farmers’ back-yards and family gardens. The wild ecotypes were collected mainly within native vegetation, even tough C. ceratocalyx was found within coca plantations although not so frequently. Also a plant of C. carde-nasii was harvested from a small garden in the yungas zone. Farmers don’t plant wild species, they just collect the fruits for their consump-tion and some plants are found surrounding their houses. According to the farmers, C. baccatum var. baccatum, C. eximium y C. cardenasii are appreciated by their special flavors and the fruits collected are sold on cities’ markets, where they have a constant demand. The collected accessions as well as the collection conserved in the CIFP, were both planted for study and multiplication at three locations: valleys above 2000 m.a.s.l. (Cochabamba), meso-termic valleys below 700 m.a.s.l. (Mairana) and tropical low-lands below 700 m.a.s.l. (Santa Cruz). The accessions were characterized trough morphological records and at the same time, cropping methodologies were developed, including har-vest and post-harvest management for wild species. The wild types have shown cropping characteristics different than the cultivated ones, having more time for germination, longer vegetative period and also a longer time up to fruiting, and in some cases the wild types didn’t produce any fruit even a year after planting. Taxonomic identification was done from the plants grown in the field, herbarium samples were taken, and these together with the plant samples taken from the field trips were studied to confirm their taxonomic identification.

Contact Information: Teresa Avila, Centro de Investigaciones Fitoecogenéticas de Pairumani, Casilla 128, Cochabamba, Bolivia. Phone (591) 4-4260083. Email: [email protected]

Documents

Welcome to the 21st International Pepper Conference