Abstract

Field reactions of 12 indigenous pepper lines (UNS₂, UNS₃, NSKY-LP, Atanukwu yola, Sombe, NSKY-SE, Tarugu, Tartasi, Dangarawa, Oshosho, NSKY-RW and a Hybrid between Sombe and NSKY-RW) for resistance to pepper veinal mottle virus (PVMV) were determined with principal component analysis (PCA). Genetically related genotypes tend to cluster, indicating that there is a significant genetic component to the underlying patterns of variations in growth and disease attributes. The PCA showed that the vegetative trait had high PRIN 1 value, thereby suggesting that the trait could be used to assign pepper genotypes into different agronomic groups. Similarly, the disease characters were the main determinants of PRIN 2 thus, implicating them as additional useful traits for classification of pepper lines.

Key words: Pepper, Capsicum spp., pepper veinal mottle virus, principal component analysis.