Deficit irrigation effect on seed yield and quality of pepper

Drought stress, increasing its effects with climate change, is one of the most important abiotic stress factors adversely affecting growth and development of plants. Although effects of drought stress on plants vary, different managerial strategies are taken to mitigate its negative effects. In pepper, although drought stress effect on yield and quality losses is known, its effects on seed quality are unknown. In this current research, three irrigation regimes were applied to the Burkalem pointed pepper variety: one full irrigation treatment (I100) and two water deficit stress applications (75% of the full irrigation treatment – I75 and 50% of full irrigation treatment- I50). In results, both the carotenoid and protein contents increased as water stress increased and the lowest carotenoid and protein content were obtained from I100 treatment. Deficit irrigation applied to pepper had statistically significant effects on yield and yield components depending on severity of water stress: while the highest fruit yield per plant was obtained from full irrigation as 191 g, significant decreases in yield occurred as water constraint increased. Water deficiency application to pepper had statistically significant effects on seed quality: while 2.99 g of seeds per plant were obtained from full irrigation, and 0.20 g of seeds was obtained from I50 subject. The maximum 1000-seed weights were obtained from the irrigation treatments namely full irrigation and 25% deficit irrigation, 3.87 and 3.45 g, respectively. In addition, deficit irrigation significantly restricted seed germination and emergence performance in pepper. As a result, in seed production for pepper seed sector, plants should not be exposed to water deficit conditions due to the resulting remarkable quality losses in seeds. Keywords: Abiotic stress, Capsicum annum, climate change, photosynthesis activity, seed quality.