Southeast Asia hosts a great diversity of different rattan genotypes. There are 5 genera and 60 different species of rattan in India and the Northeastern region is a natural sanctuary for 4 different genera and 16 different species. The natural reserves of this species have come under the threat of genetic erosion due to overexploitation. This investigation was directed at characterizing 15 rattan genotypes of the genera Calamus, Plectocomia and Daemonorops which yield rattans of commercial importance, based on RAPD fingerprints. From 20 different random decamer primers, 12 primers gave reproducible amplification profiles and 104 polymorphic bands. A considerable degree of polymorphism (98.1%) was detected among the genotypes. Jaccard's coefficient of similarity ranged from 0.146 to 0.632 with a mean of 0.320-0.082, signifying extensive genetic divergence among the genotypes studied. UPGMA cluster analysis clearly distinguished P. assamica Griff. and C. erectus Roxb. The other 13 genotypes were grouped into two distinct clusters, one cluster involving two C. tenuis genotypes along with C. inermis T.Anders. and C. acanthospathus Griff. and the other cluster involving the rest of the Calamus genotypes along with D. jenkinsianus (Griff.) Mart. Unique fingerprints for 7 Calamus and 1 Daemonorops genotypes were detected. The results presented in this paper demonstrated the utility of RAPD markers in elucidating patterns of genetic variation among genotypes of the three main rattan genera of Northeast India and in identifying individual genotypes, which may serve as potential sources of unique genetic material for genetic improvement and conservation.

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We evaluated a set of 37 chilli genotypes collected and maintained at Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat for 27 different traits related to plant habit (5), leaf (6), flower (2), fruit (13) and biotic stress (1). The variation in fruit yield among the genotypes could be attributed to high coefficients of variability for component traits viz., number of fruits per plant (91.7%), plant height (80.8%), leaf breadth (55.9 %), fruit weight (49.7%), leaf length (45.4%) fruit length (35.8%), fruit breadth (35.5%) and number of branches per plant (22.2%). Maximum phenotypic variants were observed for fruit traits followed by leaf characteristics.Phylogenetic analysis revealed Euclidean distances varying from a minimum of 2.065 and a maximum of 13.311 indicating the diverse nature of the genotypes. UPGMA clustering grouped the genotypes into 5 distinct clusters.The largest one, cluster I, had 26 genotypes belonging to Capsicum annuum var. acuminatum. Cluster II consisted of Capsicum annuum var. conoides with cone-shaped fruits. Cluster III included Moni Jolokia, a perennial shrub with cone-shaped globose erect fruits which clustered in between the other local C. annuum sp.Bireek and Mem Jolokia. The fourth cluster (IV) included the local chilli genotypes -Mem Jolokia, Bhekuri Jolokia and Haitha Jolokia which were perennial, with green stem and leaves. Cluster V included the C. chinense genotypes consisting of Manipuri Bhut, Bor Bhut and Lota Bhut. The first principal component explained 34.93% of the total variation contributed by mostly leaf and fruit characteristics. The fruit characters in this component showed significant positive correlation with leaf length, breadth and plant height indicating their importance in the morphological characterization of the chilli genotypes.

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Eighteen F 1 s were generated from line x tester mating design using six parents as lines and three parents as testers during rabi, 2015-16. The F 1 s along with their parents were evaluated altogether during rabi, 2016-17 for fruit yield and component characters in a randomized block design (RBD) with three replications at the Experimental Farm,