Use of Male Sterility in Hybrid Seed Production of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.): A Review

Male sterility in chilli is commercially utilized to develop hybrids and substantial progress has been made in understanding the mechanism of male sterility. At present, genetic male sterility (GMS) and cytoplasmic genic male sterility (CGMS) are mostly utilized in chilli. Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana has released two chilli hybrids, CH-1 and CH-3, based on GMS system. In India, CGMS system has been commercially exploited in chilli by Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), Varanasi and Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR), Bangalore. In the recent past, chilli CGMS lines have been introduced at IIVR from the World Vegetable Centre (WVC), which was utilized directly or indirectly to produce CGMS based hybrid viz. Kashi Surkh (CCH-2). The IIHR, Bangalore has also released three chilli hybrids based on CGMS system i.e. Arka Meghana, Arka Sweta and Arka Harita. Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana is also working on development of chilli hybrids based on CGMS system.