Adaptation of Improved Hot Pepper (Capsicum annum L.) Varieties at Humbo and Bombe Districts of Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

The trial was conducted in 2019/2020 at Humbo and Bombe districts of Wolaita zone in Southern Ethiopia. The purpose of this study was to test the adaptability and evaluate the yield potential of four improved Hot pepper varieties by comparing with local cultivar. It was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications and data on plant height (cm), number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant, single pod length (cm), pod weight per plant (gm), marketable yield per hectare (t), unmarketable yield per hectare (t) and total green pod yield per hectare (t) were recorded accordingly. The performance of varieties had showed significant difference among each other. The statistical analysis revealed that total green pod yield per hectare of varieties varied from 4.94t to 8.52 t respectively. An improved varieties Melka Shote (8.52t) and Mareko Fana(8.11t) at Humbo and Mareko Fana (7.74t) and Melka Awaze (6.6t) at Bombe were showed good performance with green pod yield. Although, local cultivar was showed good performance by plant height, number of branches and pod length but it was poor for basic parameters especially marketable and total green pod yield per hectare. In general, Melka Shote, Mareko Fana and Melka Awaze were well adapted and had showed out smarted result in the Humbo and Bombe districts of Wolaita zone for almost all the traits. Therefore, they would be recommended for tested sites and similar agro ecologies.