Capsicum chinense is a small aromatic pepper native to the Amazon and widely used in the Caribbean Basin. Most types of C. chinense are highly pungent, but landraces in Puerto Rico generally have little or no pungency. This “sweet chili pepper” (or ají dulce, as it is known on the Island) is an integral part of the local cuisine. Ten sweet chili pepper lines derived from non-pungent landraces were evaluated in Lajas, Juana Díaz and Corozal, Puerto Rico, in 2009. The lines represented a diversity of fruit types common on the Island. Plants in Juana Díaz grew to about twice the height of those in Lajas and Corozal. Fruit yield varied from 809 g/plant in Lajas to 1,420 g/plant in Juana Díaz. Planting density (number of plants per hectare) was greater at Corozal compared to the other two locations, resulting in a yield per hectare similar to that of Juana Díaz (10,210 kg/ha in Juana Díaz; 10,112 kg/ha in Corozal). Yield was much lower in Lajas (6,400 kg/ha). Average fruit weight was greatest at Juana Díaz (12.1 g) and lowest at Corozal (10.0 g). Plant height at 11 weeks was weakly correlated (r = 0.33) with fruit yield. Plants infected by at least one of three genera of viruses, Cucumovirus, Tobamovirus and Potyvirus, were found at each location. Seed weight per 500 seeds averaged 2.34 g. The average fruit produced about 23 seeds. Genotype x environment (GxE) interaction (= line x location) was highly significant for height, number of fruit and fruit yield, but not for average fruit weight. Because of GxE interaction, the best performing lines varied, depending on location. The presence of GxE interaction presents challenges to a sweet chili pepper breeding program. Although it may be difficult to develop cultivars that perform equally well over diverse environments, improved cultivars with virus resistance should result in increased production. More research is needed to better understand the impact that variation in planting density has on sweet chili pepper yields.
Variety trials were conducted in 2010 and 2011 to evaluate the yield and quality performance of 11 open pollinated and three hybrid tomato (Solarium lycopersicum L.) cultivars grown organically in Lajas, Puerto Rico. In both years, significant differences in marketable fruit yield were observed. Yields in 2010 ranged from 72.1 Mg/ha for 'Roma' to 8.6 Mg/ha for 'Marion'. 'Roma' and 'Neptune' (65.6 Mg/ha) were among the highest yielding cultivars. In 2011, significant yield differences were also observed. Marketable fruit yield ranged from 54.7 Mg/ha for 'Early Girl' to 23.5 Mg/ha for 'Super Sioux'. 'Early Girl', 'Flora Dade' (53.8 Mg/ha), 'BHN 444' (50.8 Mg/ha), 'Roma' (48.6 Mg/ha), 'Eva Purple Ball' (48.4 Mg/ha), 'Traveler 76' (46.4 Mg/ha) and 'Celebrity' (45.9 Mg/ha) were among the highest yielders. 'Early Girl' was consistently among the top cultivars in both seasons for taste, yield, and fruit appearance. Open pollinated cultivars performed with more variability between the two seasons than the hybrids. The open pollinated cultivars which ranked highest during the two-year study for taste, yield, and overall appearance were 'Roma', 'Homestead 24', 'Ozark Pink', and 'Traveler 76'. This study indicates that tomato can be grown successfully under an organic management system in Puerto Rico using either open pollinated cultivars or hybrids.
SENSORIAL AND CHEMICAL EVALUATION OF SAPODILLA (MANILKARA SAPOTA L. V. ROGEN, ACHRAS SAPOTA LYNN.) VARIETIES
Pumpkin [Cucurbita moschata (Duchesne) Poir], one of the most important vegetable crops in the Caribbean, ranking second among all the vegetables produced in Puerto Rico, had a farm value of 4.1 million dollars for the 2009-2010 growing season. Drip irrigation is the method most commonly used to meet water requirements in many of the vegetables planted in Puerto Rico. However, more information is needed on water requirements and response to different applications. An experiment was established using Pan A evaporation readings to determine the appropriate microirrigation management practices to enhance pumpkin production. Pumpkin plants were treated with four microirrigation applications, consisting of four levels of evapotranspiration replenishment (ERT) treatments. The ERT levels used were 25, 50, 75 and 100%; levels were based on evaporation data recorded at two locations in southwestern Puerto Rico (Lajas and Juana Díaz). The Pan A evaporation method was utilized to estimate reference evapotranspiration (ET0) and pumpkin evapotranspiration (ETC). The ERT did not significantly and consistently affect total leaf area, biomass or yield at both locations, although occasionally significant interactions were found between ERT and leaf areas and biomass measured through time. On the basis of a two-year average, commercial yield in Juana Díaz tended to be higher than yield in Lajas by 1,594 kg/ha. Juana Díaz showed higher water use efficiency than Lajas. The ETc estimates were found to be lower in Lajas.
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