Water Deficit Tolerance of Some Pepper Inbred Lines

Abstract

Water deficit is one of the main limiting factors affecting plant growth. Selection inwater-limited environments can result in populations or species with improved responseto drought. Water deficit decreases yield and quality, therefore, it is important to identifygenotypes that are tolerant to deficit irrigation conditions. In this study, the water-deficittolerance of 59 pepper-inbred lines was determined. Experiments were conducted in agrowth chamber and under field conditions (Şanlıurfa) with a control (100% fullirrigation) and water-deficit treatment (50% irrigation). Fruit weight, fruit length andnumber of fruits were recorded. Pepper lines 1900, 896 A-W, 74, 760, 1560-W, 912 AW, 405-A, 953-W, 226, 1105-W and 441 were identified as the most tolerant to waterdeficit conditions. Present findings revealed that these pepper lines could be used todevelop cultivars that have satisfactory yield under water deficit conditions.