Evaluation of open-pollinated chilli lines for heterosis and combining ability under diverse Himalayan environments

<title>Abstract</title> <p> Superior quality chilli for red ripe yield, processing, and pharmaceutical use is a major breeding objective in chilli. An experiment was conducted at three locations under diverse Himalayan agro-climatic zones. Twenty-one F1 hybrids were developed by crossing seven diverse genotypes using a half diallel mating design to evaluate heterosis, per se performance and combining ability in a Randomized Complete Block design with three replications during summer 2021 and 2022. The open-pollinated varieties Him Palam Mirch 2, Punjab Guchhedar, Pusa Jwala and Pusa Sadabahar showed significant general combining ability to profitable dry/red fruit yield and most contributing traits. For red ripe fruit yield on per se performance ten F ₁ hybrids has been identified as superior for significant heterosis and specific combining ability effects, including Him Palam Mirch 2 × Punjab Guchhedar, Pusa Sadabahar × DKC-8, Him Palam Mirch 2 × Him Palam Mirch 1, Pusa Jwala × Punjab Guchhedar, Him Palam Mirch 2 × Pusa Jwala, Him Palam Mirch 2 × DKC-8, Pusa Jwala × DKC-8, Surajmukhi × Pusa Sadabahar, Him Palam Mirch 2 × Pusa Sadabahar and Him Palam Mirch 1 × DKC-8 across locations. A significant positive correlation of specific combining ability with economic heterosis and F ₁ performance was observed for most traits. Beyond conventional heterosis analysis, this study integrates multi-location evaluation to identify hybrids with stable adaptability and resilience traits. The dual utility of these hybrids for spice processing and pharmaceutical applications, along with their climate-resilient potential, provides new directions for chilli improvement programmes. </p>