Growth and Productivity of Hot Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)as Affected by Variety, Nitrogen and Phosphorous at Jinka, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to assess the growth and productivity of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) at Jinka, southern Ethiopia during the 2009 cropping season under rain fed condition using supplementary irrigation. The study consisted of 3 released hot pepper varieties (Mareko Fana, Melka Shote and Melka Zala), 4 levels of nitrogen (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha^-1) and 4 levels of phosphorous (0, 46, 92 and 138 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1) in Split- Split plot design with three replications where, variety was assigned as main plot factor nitrogen and phosphorous were arranged as sub and sub-sub plot factors, respectively. Melka zala variety failed to grow after transplanting due to bad season. Data were collected for phenology, growth, fruit yield and yield components. Analysis of variances (ANOVA) revealed that varieties differed  significantly (P?0.05) in number of leaves, stem diameter, fruit length, fruit number per plant, fruit diameter, fruit dry weight, seed number per fruit, total biomass and harvest index. Nitrogen affected positively and significantly (P < 0.05)  days to flowering, days to fruiting, days to maturity, plant height, number of leaves, leaf area index, branch number, fruit yield, fruit length, fruit number per plant, fruit diameter, fruit dry weight, seed number per fruit and total biomass but had no significant effect on thousand seed weight and harvest index. Days to flowering, days to fruiting, days to maturity, plant height, number of leaves, leaf area index, stem diameter, fruit yield, fruit length, fruit number per plant, fruit diameter, thousand seed weight, total biomass and harvest index of hot pepper responded positively and significantly (P < 0.05) to increasing phosphorous level; but phosphorous had no significant effect on branch number, fruit dry weight, seed number per fruit. There was no significant interaction between variety, nitrogen and phosphorous levels for all observed parameters except for fruit dry weight and harvest index. In this study, the highest dry fruit yield was achieved using Mareko Fana variety at 150 kg N/ha and phosphorus at 138 kg P₂O₅/ha which was by 91% higher than the control.  However, according to the partial budget analysis, the highest economic benefits of 74,096 birr/ha was obtained at 50 kg N/ha and 92 kg P₂O₅/ha. Therefore, Mareko Fana with application of 50 kg N ha^-1 and 92 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1 could be appropriate for hot pepper production in the test area. However, further testing is required in different locations and on different soils.

Keywords: Hot pepper, Variety, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Growth, Yield.