Fonio (Digitaria exilis (Kippist) Stapf) and Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) are native crops grown at a small scale in Mali that have potential to support agricultural productivity under climate change. A community biodiversity management approach was explored in this study as a means to reinforce the cultivation of these crops by increasing farmers' access to intraspecific diversity and developing capacities of community institutions for their management. The research involved six communities in Ségou and Sikasso regions. Multiple varieties of fonio (10–12) and Bambara groundnut (8–12) were established in diversity fields in each site over 2 years where farmers engaged in experiential learning over the crop cycle. Significant adoption of fonio and Bambara groundnut was detected in several study sites. The precise drivers of adoption cannot be definitively determined but likely include increased seed access and awareness gained through the diversity field fora, seed fairs and community seed banks. No significant yield advantage was detected for any of the varieties in the diversity fields, which showed variable performance by site and year. The number of varieties registered and managed by community seed banks in each site increased from 1–5 varieties of each crop to 11–12 varieties following the interventions. The number of Bambara groundnut varieties cultivated in farmers' fields also increased, while there was evidence of a slight decline in fonio diversity in some communities. The results of this study can inform efforts to strengthen seed systems and cultivation of neglected and underutilized species in Africa.

This paper examines genetic erosion in rice landraces thriving in traditional smallholder agricultural systems in the Sarangani uplands, Philippines. In these marginal areas, the crop is closely interwoven with tribal culture and is vital in ensuring food security among upland households. Field visits unveiled high varietal diversity for upland rice and a rich tapestry of indigenous knowledge associated with its cultivation and use. Study results, however, revealed the tapering of the crop's genetic base due to farmers' changing priorities, pest infestation, weakening seed supply systems, shift to cash crops, natural calamities, environmental degradation, government programmes and peace and order problems. Consequently, these pressures undermined traditional agricultural systems in Sarangani upland communities causing food and water scarcity, hunger and suffering on a catastrophic scale. Interdisciplinary strategies aimed at simultaneously averting further varietal losses and environmental degradation while improving human well-being are therefore warranted. Furthermore, making traditional rice farming a lucrative endeavour will induce the younger generation to remain in the uplands and choose farming as a profession. This way, biocultural restoration of agriculture will be attained and the continued presence of the tribal groups in the Sarangani uplands will be ensured for a very long time.

Starch content is an important trait in barley. To evaluate the genetic diversity and identify molecular markers of starch content in barley, 40 cultivated barley genotypes collected from different regions, including genotypes whose starch content is at either the high or low end of the spectrum (15), were used in this study. All the genotypes were re-sequenced by the double-digest-restriction associated DNA sequencing method, and a total of 299,103 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were obtained. The genotypes were divided into four sub-populations based on FASTSTRUCTURE, principal component analysis and neighbour-joining tree analysis. All four sub-populations had a high linkage disequilibrium, especially group 3, whose members were recently bred for malting in the Jiangsu coastal area. The starch content of the barley lines was evaluated during three growing seasons (2014–2017), and the average values of starch content across the three growing seasons at the low and high ends were 51.5 and 55.0%, respectively. The starch content was affected by population structure, the barley in group 2 had a low starch content, while the barley in group 4 had a high starch content. Twenty-six SNP markers were identified as being significantly associated with starch content (P ⩽ 0.001) based on the average values across the three growing seasons using the mixed linear model method. These SNP markers were located on chromosomes 1H and 4H, and were considered loci of qSC1-1 and qSC4-1, respectively. The major identified QTLs for starch content are helpful for further research on carbohydrates and for barley breeding.

Characterizing the whole genetic architecture of drought tolerance (DT) is a persistent challenge for the breeders. Here we developed a half-sib population comprising of 404 lines of two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations with M8206 as the joint parent (M8206 × TongShan and ZhengYang × M8206) and tested for its DT under sand culture. The population was sequenced using restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing filtered with minor allele frequency ≥0.01; 55,936 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were obtained and assembled into 6137 SNPLDBs (SNP linkage disequilibrium blocks). The restricted two-stage multi-locus genome-wide association analysis characterized with error and false-positive control identified 40 QTLs with 93 alleles on an average of 34.75% of the phenotypic variance (PV) collectively for relative root length (RRL) and relative shoot length (RSL) that served as potential DT indicators. Among these, eight loci corresponded to previously reported QTLs, whereas 32 loci were therefore novel. The identified QTLs with their corresponding alleles for RRL and RSL were organized into QTL-allele matrices, depicting the comprehensive DT genetic architecture of the three parents/half-sib population. From the matrices, we predicted the possible best/optimal genotype with weighted average value (WAV) 1.553 over two indicators, while for the top 10 single crosses among RILs with 95th percentile WAV was 1.218–1.257, transgressive over the parents (0.693–0.794) yet much less than 1.553. From the detected QTL-allele system, 65 potential candidate genes collectively for both indicators explaining on an average of 24.41% PV were annotated and χ2-tested as a DT candidate gene system involving nine biological processes.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) is an important grain legume in tropical and subtropical regions. It requires low resource inputs and has a high nutritional value. Therefore, cowpea can play an important role in the development of agriculture. In southern Mexico, Mayan farmers have conserved and developed cowpea landraces for centuries. Nevertheless, information on their genetic diversity, conservation status and potential use is minimal. To generate information toward sustainable use, management and conservation of this species, we evaluated the genetic diversity and structure of 20 cowpea landraces from southeast Mexico using 10 inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular markers. These ISSR markers generated 68 loci with a 67.7% polymorphism rate and average polymorphic information content of 0.36. The results of Bayesian assignation and the UPGMA analysis suggest the formation of two main groups defined by their genetic origin in southeast Mexico. High levels of genetic structure were found with a moderate level of genetic diversity distributed mainly between landraces. Low levels of intra-landrace variability were observed. Two landraces (P5 and P12) from Calakmul resulted in the high levels of genetic diversity. The selected markers were efficient at assessing genetic variability among Mexican cowpea landraces, providing valuable information that can be used in local conservation and participatory breeding programmes.

Sugarcane brown rust, caused by Puccinia melanocephala, is one of the main diseases of sugarcane in China. The identification and discovery of new resistance genes have important theoretical and practical significance for preventing outbreaks of brown rust and ensuring the sustainable production of sugarcane. To screen for polymorphic simple-sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers for localization of brown rust resistance genes, we used two populations that are suitable for genetic linkage map construction and mapping of new resistance genes to construct resistant and susceptible genetic pools. We then screened 449 pairs of primers to identify polymorphic SSR markers in the parental lines and the resistant/susceptible genetic pools. The results showed that 25 pairs of primers directed amplification of polymorphic DNA fragments between the parents of the cross combination ‘Yuetang 03-393’ × ‘ROC 24’, and 16 pairs of primers amplified polymorphic fragments between the parents of the cross combination ‘Liucheng 03-1137’ × ‘Dezhe 93-88’. Four pairs of primers (SMC236CG, SCESSR0928, SCESSR0636 and SCESSR2551) amplified polymorphic DNA fragments between the parental lines and the resistant/susceptible genetic pools in ‘Yuetang 03-393’ × ‘ROC 24’. The results of this study will establish a solid foundation for the mapping of new brown rust resistance genes, genetic linkage map construction and the development of closely-associated molecular markers in sugarcane.

The aims of the current study were to investigate the effect of drought stress on phenological and morphological traits of sunflower genotypes and to determine the important traits for identifying drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive cultivars. For this purpose, a lattice square-design experiment was conducted with 64 sunflower genotypes in an 8 × 8 pattern with two replications under non-stress and moisture-stress conditions (irrigation holding at the flowering stage) during 2 years 2016 and 2017. Measured and recorded traits were included the some phenological and morphological traits seeds. Sil-96 genotype showed the highest yield under both non-stress and moisture-stress conditions. Among the morphological traits, the head and stem diameters were highly significant to determine the final yield. In comparing the genotypes, it was concluded that the number of seeds per head was the most influential component affecting the yield. Furthermore, 1000-seed weight was the most important factor affecting grain yield under moisture-stress conditions. The result of association analysis study shows that 45 of inter-simple sequence repeat markers in a general linear model are associated with yield and yield component traits and 23 of them were verified in a mixed linear model (MLM) association approach. Also, 32 markers were informative for morpho-physiological traits and 24 of them verified using the MLM. Finally, 19 informative markers were identified for phenological traits and 10 of them were verified by the MLM.

Stripe rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is a devastating fungal disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The best economical technique for disease control is breeding for genetic resistance to stripe rust. To find resistance genes in landrace PI388222 from Pakistan, a segregating population was developed by a cross between PI388222 and susceptible Australian spring wheat line Avocet ‘S’. The F2:4 seeds were harvested and seeds were planted in the greenhouse of Washington State University Pullman, to grow F4:5 recombinant inbred lines (RIL). A variable set of seedling reactions were noted when a set of 136 F5 and parental lines were screened with four Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici races (PSTv-37, PSTv-40, PSTv-4 and PSTv-51). The great proportion of RILs showed resistant reaction displayed by the RILs was against PSTv-40, for which 85% of the RILs showed resistant reaction, while less resistance to the race PSTv-37 was detected against which the resistance was for only 49% of the RILs. The RIL population was further evaluated at two locations; Palouse Conservation Field Station (PCFS) and Mount Vernon (MV). In MV field, 76% of RILs displayed resistant reaction while 15% of RILs exhibited moderate reaction. About 53% of RILs exhibited resistant reaction to four P. tritici races that were used in glasshouse screening and they were also resistant in field environments at PCFS and MV. This study demonstrates that landrace comprises partial resistance in the range of resistant to moderately resistant lines.

Wheat, a major food crop, faces significant yield constraints due to losses caused by various diseases, especially rusts and powdery mildew. Since the causal organisms are always evolving, there is a never-ending hunt for new genes/quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for resistance to control the damage. For this purpose, Triticum durum–Aegilops speltoides backcross introgression lines (DS-BILs) developed in our wide hybridization programme were screened against stripe rust and powdery mildew at both seedling and adult plant stages. DS-BILs showed complete to moderate resistance at the adult plant stage while varying resistance and susceptibility at the seedling stage. A total of 1095 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified on 14 chromosomes of T. durum, using genotyping by sequencing, were used for QTL mapping. Eleven unique QTLs, across six chromosomes (chr1B, chr2A, chr2B, chr3B, chr6B and chr7B) were identified for resistance, four QTLs for field mixture of stripe rust pathotypes, two QTLs for stripe rust pathotype 78S84 and five QTLs for field mixture of powdery mildew pathotypes using stepwise regression-based likelihood ratio test for additive effect of markers and single-marker analysis. Eleven DS-BILs carrying multiple QTLs were identified which will serve as a useful resource to transfer the respective resistance to susceptible cultivars to develop all stage resistant elite cultivars where QTL for stripe rust resistance QYrAs.pau-2A.1 (LOD 3.8, PVE 24.51 linked to SNP S2A_16016633) and QTL for powdery mildew resistance QPmAs.pau-6B (logarithm of the odds (LOD) 3.2, phenotypic variation explained (PVE) 17.75 linked to SNP S6B_26793381) are major targets of the transfer.

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) is a nutritious crop from the Moraceae family. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the phenotypic diversity of fruit characteristics using a set of 27 standardized fruit descriptors to describe 28 jackfruit genotypes. These data were used to identify the superior jackfruit genotype that could be used for commercial cultivation. The data revealed a wide range of differences among the genotypes for all the traits studied. Cluster analysis classified the genotypes into four major groups that confirmed the wide diversity among them. Principal component analysis (PCA) also revealed that 80.22% of the variability among the jackfruit genotypes was explained by the first five principal components (PCs). Based on the overall results, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Research Complex for Eastern Region (ICAR-RCER) JS 6/3 and 10/3 genotypes were found to be the most promising for table purposes (medium fruit size, pulp percentage >50 and total soluble solid (TSS) >20°Brix), whereas the ICAR-RCER JS 7/7 genotype with large fruit size, pulp percentage >50 and TSS >20°Brix was found to be suitable for processing. The coefficient of variation was the least for traits such as TSS (12.56%) and average seed length (13.56%). Hence, priority may also be given to the TSS and seed size when exploring promising genotypes and operating a selection procedure for crop improvement in jackfruit. The information generated under the study forms a potential baseline for fruit breeders to use in selecting genotypes with superior fruit qualities for jackfruit crop improvement programmes in the future.

Cotton fibre yield and quality are markedly influenced by drought and high-temperature stress. We examined the traits of the leaf stomata in 39 cotton genotypes subjected to exogenous phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) signalling, electrolyte leakage under 40°C thermal stress, and relative GhHsfA, GhbZIP and GhHSP70 expression levels under two treatments. Stomatal density and area ranged from 66 to 182/mm2 and 663 to 1305 μm2, respectively. Under exogenous ABA signalling, the changes in stomatal aperture (ΔSAp) were in the range of 2.5–31.2%; ΔSAp and relative GhHsfA, GhbZIP and GhHSP70 expression levels were significantly correlated, respectively. Electrolyte leakage increased unequally among cotton genotypes after heat stress. The changes in electrolyte leakage (ΔEL) and relative GhHsfA, GhbZIP and GhHSP70 expression levels were very strongly correlated, respectively. Their relative expression levels could be used as references for the rapid identification of stress-tolerant cotton strains. Cluster analysis of the 39 cotton genotypes indicated that Xinluzao36, Shiyang1, shinong98-7 and Zhongmiansuo293 are heat- and drought-resistant. We integrated both analysis of physiological parameters and molecular methods to identify cotton varieties with the drought and heat tolerance, in order to provide a reference for the selection of materials and methods for the research and production of cotton.

The current study was undertaken to identify the sources of tolerance to bruchid in cowpea, by screening a set of germplasm accessions as a source for natural resistance. A total of 103 diverse accessions of cowpea were evaluated for resistance to Callosobruchus maculatus Fab. under no-choice artificial infestation conditions. Significant differences among the cowpea accessions were observed for oviposition, adult emergence, exit holes and per cent seed weight loss (PSWL) caused by the bruchid infestation. The accessions showed variation in physical seed parameters viz., colour, shape, testa texture, length, width and seed hardness. Among the seed biochemical parameters studied, per cent sugar content ranged from 0.322 (IC330950) to 1.493 (IC249137), and per cent phenol content ranged from 0.0326 (EC390261) to 1.081 (EC528423). Correlation studies indicated that PSWL had significant positive correlation (r = 0.335) with exit holes, oviposition (r = 0.219), adult emergence (r = 0.534) and seed roundness (r = 0.219). Adult emergence had a significant negative correlation with seed hardness (r = −0.332). Correlation with biochemical parameters indicated that PSWL had a significant positive correlation (r = 0.231) with sugar content and a significant negative correlation with phenol content (r = −0.219). None of the accessions were found to be immune to bruchid infestation. However, out of studied accessions, EC528425 and EC528387 were identified as resistant based on PSWL and moderately resistant based on adult emergence. These resistance sources of cowpea germplasm can be used as potential donors for development of bruchid tolerant/resistant cultivars.

Breeding for resistance to biotic stress and higher yield is a continuous process. Thus, the identification of desirable parents with good combining ability and nature of gene action for the target trait is of utmost importance. Hence, in this present investigation, 10 lines and three testers of Okra were crossed in line × tester mating design to generate 30 testcross progenies and their evaluation along with parents and check in a randomized complete block design with three replications. To depict the true picture of genetic variation among the parental genotypes, molecular diversity analysis was also carried out using genomic-simple sequence repeats before crossing to ascertain that sufficient variability is present among the parents. The molecular analysis grouped the parental genotypes into four clusters (I–IV). The analysis of variance revealed that all the treatments were significant for most of the traits. The combining ability analysis suggested Pusa A-4 as the best general combiner for earliness, Pusa Bhindi-5 for high yield, and DOV-92 for fruit length, plant height, yield per plant, and coefficient of infection for Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus Disease resistance. Similarly, the specific combining ability analysis suggested that the cross combinations DOV-92 × Pusa Bhindi-5 followed by DOV-92 × Pusa A-4 and DOV-92 × Pusa Sawani exhibit high economic heterosis for yield per plant as well as for disease resistance. Finally, estimation of the degree of dominance and predictability ratio was also worked out which indicated the prevalence of non-additive gene action for most of the traits pointing towards sufficient scope for heterosis breeding in Okra.

The genetics of the root system is still not dissected for wheat and lack of knowledge prohibits the use of marker-assisted selection in breeding. To understand the genetic mechanism of root development, Synthetic W7984 × Opata M85 doubled-haploid (SynOpDH) mapping population was evaluated for root and shoot characteristics in PVC tubes until maturity. Two major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for total root biomass were detected on homoeologous chromosomes 2A and 2D with logarithm of the odds scores between 6.25–10.9 and 11.8–20.86, and total phenotypic effects between 12.7–17.7 and 26.6–40.04% in 2013 and 2014, respectively. There was a strong correlation between days to anthesis and root and shoot biomass accumulation (0.50–0.81). The QTL for biomass traits on chromosome 2D co-locates with QTL for days to anthesis. The effect of extended vegetative growth, caused by photoperiod sensitivity (Ppd) genes, on biomass accumulation was always hypothesized, this is the first study to genetically support this theory.

Occurrence of drought under rainfed conditions is the foremost factor responsible for yield reduction in soybean. Developing soybean cultivars with an inherent ability to withstand drought would immensely benefit the soybean production in rainfed areas. In the present study, F2 derived mapping populations were developed by crossing drought tolerant (PK 1180, SL 46) and susceptible (UPSL 298, PK 1169) genotypes to investigate the inheritance of seedling survival drought mechanisms and to identify simple-sequence repeat (SSR) markers associated with them, using bulked segregant analysis. Parents as well as a F2 derived mapping population were screened for drought tolerance based on seedling survivability under controlled conditions. Segregation analysis of F2 population derived from a cross between PK 1180 × UPSL 298 was previously shown to have a 3:1 tolerant to susceptible ratio and a probability of 0.61 at a χ2(3:1) value of 0.258. This was confirmed in another F2 population derived from a cross between PK 1169 × SL 46 with a χ2(3:1) value of 0.145 obtained at a probability of 0.70. One SSR marker Satt277 showed polymorphism between contracting bulks (tolerant and susceptible) out of 50 polymorphic markers identified during parental polymorphism. Single marker analysis suggested that the marker, Satt277 is linked to seedling survival drought tolerance and is located on chromosome linkage group C2 (chr 6) with a map distance of 3.40 cM. The tolerant genotypes identified could be used as a donor in soybean improvement programs. The marker identified can be used in marker-assisted selection while screening large collection of germplasm.

Bell pepper or sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. grossum) is highly susceptible to high-temperature stress (HT). Hence, search for donor across C. annuum for HT tolerance was undertaken by following Temperature Induction Response (TIR) technique. The induction and challenging temperature requirement for TIR screening were standardized in 1 d-old Capsicum seedlings. Forty Capsicum genotypes were evaluated based on the recovery growth (RG) and per cent reduction in recovery growth (%RRG) of the seedlings. The genotypes Punjab Guchhedar and Ajeet 1 were found to have maximum cellular level tolerance (CLT) to HT with higher RG and lower %RRG compared to the non-induced seedlings and HDC 75 was found to have minimum CLT. In order to confirm the findings, another experiment was conducted under managed stress and control conditions. Absolute yield obtained from both the environments were used to calculate stress tolerance indices such as heat susceptibility index, tolerance index, stress tolerance index, mean productivity, geometric mean productivity and yield stability index. Based on these tolerance indices, Punjab Guchhedar and Ajeet 1 were found to be highly tolerant and HDC 75 as highly susceptible. Further, the combined result of TIR and tolerance indices also gave the same result confirming Punjab Guchhedar and Ajeet 1 can be used as a donor for the future breeding programme aimed at evolving high-temperature-tolerant bell pepper cultivars. The result also confirms the fitness of TIR technique to screen Capsicum genotypes for tolerance to HT based on variability in acquired thermotolerance.

Iron walnut, Juglans sigillata Dode, restricted to southwestern China, has its centre of distribution in Yunnan Province which has a varied climate, geography and rich plant diversity. Yunnan contains abundant J. sigillata germplasm. In this study, a provincial-scale set of walnut germplasm resources (14 populations comprising 1122 individuals) was evaluated for genetic diversity based on 20 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci. The number of SSR alleles per locus ranged from 7 to 27, with an average of 17.55. Mean allelic richness and mean private allelic richness ranged from 3.40 to 4.62 and 0.11 to 0.36, with average of 3.93 and 0.30, respectively. Expected heterozygosity (He) varied from 0.26 to 0.78, with an average of 0.57. Polymorphism information content ranged from 0.22 to 0.79, with an average of 0.57. Genetic differentiation (FST) was 0.05, indicating that only 5% of total genetic variability was inter-populational, a finding supported by an analysis of molecular variance and STRUCTURE analysis. Relatively high gene flow (Nm = 6.70) was observed between populations. A unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic analysis classified the 14 populations into two major groups. Mantel testing uncovered a significant correlation between geographic distance and genetic distance (r = 0.33, P = 0.04). Overall, the research revealed a moderately high level of genetic diversity in the germplasm and low genetic differentiation among populations, which showed great potential for further development and exploitation of this resource.

DNA methylation is known to regulate gene expression when plants are exposed to abiotic stress such as drought. Therefore, insight into DNA methylation pattern would be useful for a better understanding of the expression profile of genes associated with drought adaptation. In the present study, we attempted to analyse the DNA methylation pattern at the whole-genome level and the expression of a few drought-responsive genes in rice under different regimes of soil water status, i.e. puddled, 100 and 60% field capacities (FC). The methylation-sensitive randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis was employed to identify DNA methylation pattern. We observed an increase in DNA methylation at 60% FC, and reduced methylation under 100% FC compared to puddled condition. The genes such as protein phosphatases (PP2C) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) having CpG islands in their promoter region had lower expression level under 100 and 60% FC compared to puddled conditions. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and RNA helicase 25 (RH25), with no CpG islands in their promoter region, exhibited enhanced expression compared to puddled plants. In rice, increased DNA methylation seems to be an important mechanism associated with drought responses, which probably regulates the methylation-sensitive gene expression. The drought-induced changes in DNA methylation would contribute for epigenetic mechanism. The study provided evidence to argue that drought-induced increased methylation might be one of the major mechanisms associated with acclimation responses in field crops like rice.

The current study focused on characterization of the underlying genetic divergence in inbred lines developed from local landraces of North Eastern Hill Region of India – a designated Asiatic maize diversity centre – following six generations of inbreeding. Substantial genetic differentiation was indicated based on very high to moderate Fst values for 22 of the 38 simple sequence repeat markers studied. STRUCTURE analysis partitioned the subset into two distinct and one admixture subgroup (Populations I, II and III respectively) accompanied by a significant reduction in heterozygosity. Population II was further subdivided into subpopulations Pop-M9 and Pop-T9. Nei's pairwise genetic distance and population Fst values indicated that Populations I and II were more divergent with neighbour joining clustering analysis clearly defining landraces originating from the states of Tripura (Population II) and Sikkim (Population I) as most divergent. Principal coordinates analysis could explain 31.26% of the variation present in the subgroups wherein Population I was more variable. Analysis of molecular variance and Fst coefficients (P < 0.001) indicated 17% population structuring with 55% variation detected for individuals within populations. These results combined with the presence of phenotypic variability in the subgroups for yield traits supported by results of a preliminary partial diallel analysis strongly suggest the existence of distinct heterotic groups. Divergence studies are crucial for exploiting heterosis, and the current study would go a long way to help establish a germplasm base for developing varieties with improved agronomic performance and surer commercial prospects no reports of which are available thus far.

Choice of the most appropriate breeding method hinges on mode of action of genes controlling expression of target traits. Pungency (capsaicin) and colour (oleoresin) are most important fruit quality traits in chilli. Genetics of fruit quality traits was unravelled using a combination of first and second degree statistics. An additive-dominance model was inadequate to explain the inheritance of fruit yield and quality traits. Magnitude of additive genetic effects [a] and their variances [σ2A] were higher than those of dominance genetic effects [d] and dominance genetic variances [σ2D] suggesting predominance of additive effect genes in the inheritance of both oleoresin and capsaicin contents. These results are discussed in relation to appropriate selection strategy to be followed for genetic improvement of chilli for oleoresin and capsaicin contents.