Effect of sulphur dioxide fumigation on yield attributes of red pepper (Capsicum annuum)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted during the winter season of 1993-94 to snldy the effect of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) fumigation on yield attributes in 'Pusa jwala' red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). The plants fumigated in 1 m³ open-top polythene chambers with 0.25, 0.5 and 1 ppm SO₂ for 4 hr a day at 24-hr intervals for 25, 50, 75 and 100 days, starting from seedling, vegetative and bud-initiation stages. The fumigated plant, showed reduction in fruits/plant (3-10), fruit size (4.0 cm x 0.65 cm), seeds/fruit (26-41) and 100-seed weight (50-366 mg). The plants fumigated with 1 ppm SO₂ starting from vegetative stage for 100 days produced only 3 fruits/plant with 13 seeds/fruit compared with the control (plants kept in the chamber for same period without SO₂, produced 11 fruits/plant with 40 seeds/fruit). The fumigated plants also showed significant decrease in fruit size (2.7 cm X 0.50 cm) and 100-seed weight (69.4 mg) compared with the control.