Breeding and Cultural Practices of Chile Peppers, Capsicum spp.

Chile pepper (Capsicum spp.) is the third most§important vegetable crop in the USA. They are an§important constituent of many foods, adding flavor,§color, vitamin C, and pungency, and are,§indispensable to the US and world food industries.§Mexico and South America are the centers of origin§for most Capsicum spp. Wild Capsicum species are§important for breeding improved chile peppers with§better disease resistance,nutritional quality, yield,§and adaptation to stress. Modern§annuum-chinense-frutescens complex shows significant§variation for important traits including fruit§characteristics, pest resistance, and tolerance to§environmental adversaries.The C. chinense are the§hottest peppers and the bell peppers of C. annuum are§mild and non-pungent types. However, C. annuum§cultivars have early maturity, higher yields, and§adapt to a wider range of environments than other§Capsicum species. In this research, 223 accessions§belonging to C. annuum, C. baccatum, C. frutescens,§C. chinense, C. annum were evaluated for agronomic§traits and development of varieties with value-added§traits using molecular marker assisted§breeding/selection.