Evaluation of chilli and brinjal rootstocks for growth, yield and quality of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. grossum Sendt.) under protected conditions

Grafting is now-a-days becoming an important tool to manage soil-borne diseases and improve crop response to a variety of abiotic stresses such as drought, flooding, salinity and extreme temperature stresses. However, in order to make a successful change in plant root system through grafting, it is important to select an ideal and compatible rootstock. In the present studies, the commercial bell pepper hybrid Indra was grafted on five chilli and three brinjal rootstocks, whereas, the non-grafted plants of Indra were used as ontrol. Three methods of grafting viz. tongue, cleft and tube were used. The experiment was laid out in a Factorial Randomized Block Design with three replications and data were recorded on various yield and quality traits. The chilli rootstock PI-201232 was the most suitable rootstock for bell pepper. Tongue grafting resulted in highest grafting success in comparison to cleft and tube. The combination of rootstock PI-201232 and propagation method Tongue grafting resulted into minimum days to first flowering (47.33), minimum days to first harvest (72.00) and maximum number of fruits per plant (27.80). The combination resulted in average fruit weight of 105.05 g, 2.80 kg marketable fruit yield per plant, marketable. Maximum fruit length (8.66 cm) was recorded with chilli rootstock AVPP0205 and Cleft grafting. Highest capsaicin content (0.65%) was recorded with chilli rootstock PI-201232 and Tube grafting. There was no significant effect of interaction between rootstocks and grafting methods on fruit diameter (cm). The chilli rootstocks PI-201232, AVPP0205, VI-037556, Surajmukhi and Pant C-1 were found to be more suitable for bell pepper in comparison to brinjal rootstocks.