Ideotype concept in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)

Abstract

An attempt has been made to describe the crop ideotype characteristics for black pepper(Piper nigrum). It is proposed that the black pepper ideotype should have acute branch angles(450) at the top and more wider branch angles at the bottom (600). The fruiting branchesshould be well spread from top to bottom of the canopy.  To harvest maximum light especiallyby the bottom canopy, the leaf angle should be more at the bottom (130-1400) compared tothe top (100-1100). It is desirable that within a branch, the bottom leaves have lengthierpetioles than the top leaves. The vine should have a high photosynthetic rate (minimum of3.0–3.5 μ moles), more than 90% bisexual flowers with >95% self pollination, increased spikelength (≥12 cm) and more number of berries spike-1 (≥70). Fruit set should be  ≥80% andshould yield at least 2.5–3.0 kg dry berries vine-1. Among the cultivars/varieties studied,Panniyur 1 was found to possess more number of traits for the proposed ideotype comparedto other cultivars/varieties.