Field assessments of bell pepper varieties produced in the dry zone of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Bell pepper is a high valued crop that is commonly grown in controlled environments in the wet and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka. However, lesser efforts have been made in evaluating the field performances in the dry zones, hence, this study aims to elucidate the field performances of three commercial elite varieties of bell pepper viz Ganga (green), Indra (red), and Polarized (yellow). The field experiments were carried out at Agrotech park, Malwatta in the Ampara district was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replicates in each plot size of 2.25m x 2.25m. The plant morphological and fruit characteristics were analysed at the harvesting stage. The results showed that the variety Ganga (green) performed superior to the remaining two varieties as it possessed improved field plant survival rates (78.6 %), fruit set, and significantly improved the number of fruits (7 Nos/plant) hence, the overall highest number of yields per plant (394.6 g/plant). Therefore, this study hints that the farmers in the dry zone may cultivate successfully the green bell pepper varieties (var. Ganga) at home garden levels or as commercial cultivation in the open fields, which may serve as an alternative viable source of income than the conventional cash crops. Moreover, to confirm the quality of fruits produced in this region, further researches are needed to elucidate the fruit quality through sensory evaluations and fruit pericarp chemical compositions at laboratory levels.