ABSTRACT:
The establishment of populations with ample genetic variability and their use in breeding programs are discussed based on the Capsicum breeding program at Embrapa. Thirty-one accessions of "Habanero" pepper from different origins present in the Capsicum Active Germplasm Bank (AGB) of Embrapa Vegetables were used to establish a base population. The base population of "Habanero" was formed by an equal mixture of F2 seeds from all crosses obtained, using a fixed weight (1 g) per cross, which is close to 150 seeds per genotype. This balanced population was introduced in theCapsicum AGB as CNPH 15,469. There are several possibilities to explore this variability, such as the use of base population as source of inbred lines; the use of base population for selection in specific environments; establishment of new populations from the base population, and also its use in recurrent selection programs.
Keywords:
Capsicum chinense; pre-breeding; genetics; germplasm.
