Breeding of Vegetable, Spice and Tuber Crops

Varieties

• Cultivated varieties are grouped into three main groups primarily based on nature of panicle. They are ‘Malabar’, ‘Mysore’ and ‘Vazhukka’. Vazhukka is a natural hybrid between Malabar and Mysore. Distinguishing features of these varieties are as follows

Parameters	Malabar	Mysore	Vazhukka
Plant stature	Medium (2-3m ht)	Tall (3-5 m ht)	Tall (3-5m ht)
Leaf	Dorsal side may be pubescent or glabrous, short petiole	Lanceolate or oblong- lanceolate, glabrous on both sides, petiole long	Deep green oblong – lanceolate long petiole
Panicle	Prostrate	Erect	Semi erect
Capsule	Globose - oblong shaped	Ovoid , bold dark green	Bold, globose or ovoid
Bearing nature	Early, short span of flowering	Late, long flowering span	Late , long flowering span
Adaptability	Lower elevation (600 -1000 m MSL)	Higher elevation (900 – 1200 m MSL)	Higher elevation (900 -1200 m MSL)
Tolerance to drought	Thrives under low rainfall	Thrives well under well distributed rainfall	Thrives well under well distributed rainfall