Horticultural practices and varietal diversity of chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in Central and Northern Benin

Chili peppers play a significant role in the world diet and can contribute to the improvement of horticultural producers’ incomes. In Benin, chili pepper production is hampered by many challenges that need to be characterized, prioritized and addressed. Moreover, the existing diversity, as well as the agronomic potential, of the varieties being cultivated in Benin is still not well understood. In order to define the scientific basis for the improvement of chili pepper production and the preservation of its diversity, one hundred villages were randomly selected and surveyed in Northern and Central Benin by using participatory research appraisal tools and techniques. Twelve production constraints were identified, of which low productivity (19 %), soil infertility (18.5 %), drought (18.3 %), pests and disease susceptibility (17.9 %), early fall of plant organs (15 %) appear as the most important. In terms of diversity, 77 chili pepper varieties (40 from the frutescens group, 24 from the annuum group and 13 from the chinense group) including 72 local and five introduced varieties (Tataché, Yèyèkouka, Yèyèkouokourè, Côte d’ivoire and MC) were found. The number of varieties varies from three to seven (four on average) per village and from one to five by household. The proportion of loss of diversity per village varies from 0 to 75 % with an average of 26.61 %. Susceptibility to pests and diseases (37.1 % of responses), early fall of plant organs (11.6 % of responses) and susceptibility to drought (8.5 %), were the most important reasons given in attempts to explain the loss of diversity. Farmers’ varietal preference criteria are essentially agronomic (90.4 % of responses). The participative agronomic evaluation revealed that the varieties of frutescens group are significantly higher with respect to the evaluated variables, but they are less appreciated by the consumers.