Effect Of Different Irrigation Levels And Frequencies On Growth, Flower Abscission And Yield Of Pimento And Congo Pepper (Capsicum Chinense Jacq) In Trinidad

Pimento and Congo peppers are both important commercial crops in Trinidad but depend on irrigation for cultivation during the drier months. An experiment was conducted to compare six irrigation treatments (630 ml of water per plant per day and 950 ml of water per plant per day applied daily, every two days and every three days) on both landraces of pepper (Pimento and Congo). The crops were planted in January 2006 and harvesting was observed from April to July 2006. Comparison was made with a non-irrigated plot placed next to the experiment. The weather conditions were dry until the onset of the rainy season in late June. All plants in the non-irrigated plot died, but all of the irrigated plots gave pepper yields. However, there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in yield between the six irrigation treatments. The landraces were observed for differences in yield and size. Both landraces yielded similar amounts in April and June, but Pimento out-yielded Congo in May and July. Congo pepper fruits were generally larger than Pimento in the earlier harvests, especially for the plots with the higher irrigation amounts, but fruit sizes were similar in the later harvests. It was observed that there was a negative correlation between the number of flower abscission scars and fruit yield, and a positive correlation between the number of scars and fruit sizes. There were generally more flower abscission scars on Congo as compared to Pimento. Monthly yields were very variable; the June yields for Congo were only the equivalent of 6,000 kg/ha, but were at least six times that amount in May and July. Pimento yields were similar to Congo in May and July, but higher than Congo during June. The results show that both Congo and Pimento can be grown in dry conditions and the water requirements are not more than 630 ml/plant/day.