Fruit Yield and Oleoresin Content of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Varieties as Influenced by Seedling Ages in Humbo District, South Ethiopia

Hot pepper is one of the most important vegetable crops produced in Ethiopia. However, the average production and productivity of the crop is low in Humbo District, mostly associated with a lack of high yielding varieties, transplanting dates and inappropriate agronomic practices. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of variety and seedling age on the growth, yield and quality of pepper during 2023/2024 main cropping season using supplementary irrigation in Humbo District. Treatments consisted of three pepper varieties (Mareko fana, Melka awaze, and Melka shote) and four seedling ages (35, 45, 55, and 65 days), laid in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in a 3x4 factorial arrangement with three replications. Phenological, growth, yield, and quality parameters of pepper were collected and analyzed using SAS version 8.1 and mean separation was carried out using the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at 5% and 1% level of significance. Seedlings transplanted at 55-day-old highest number of fruits per plant (31.89), total dry yield (2.57 t ha ^− 1 ) and oleoresin content (18.33%). Hence, using Melka awaze variety and 55-day seedling ages old can be recommended for the production of pepper in the study area using supplementary irrigation.