Early yield responses of three promising chili pepper hybrids to different mulch types

High early yields of chili pepper is very important traits to gain economic return for farmers. Developing superior genotypes and using mulches are among promising methods to have high early yields of chili peppers. This experiment aimed to determine (1) early yields of three promising chili-pepper genotypes, (2) effects of mulch types on early yields of chili peppers and (3) the best combination of mulch type and chili pepper genotype for early yields. An experiment was conducted at Ultisol site and designed in a factorial randomized complete block design with three replicates. The first factor was three promising chili pepper genotypes; H23, H53, and H73. The second factor was the types of mulches; black-silver plastic, rice straw, empty palm-oil fruit bunch and no mulch. Early yields were expressed in terms of fruit number per plant, fruit weight per plant1 (g) and average fruit weight (g). Results indicated that after five harvests, hybrid of H23 was the best genotypes to produce early yields of chili peppers. Fruit number and fruit weight plant-1 of chili pepper grown using both rice straw and empty palm-oil fruit bunch mulches were significantly higher than those of grown using black-silver plastic mulch and control plot. Overall, best average fruit weight early yields of chili peppers was found in hybrid of H23 grown in bare soil.