The PCA of the chilli parents and crosses revealed that the five traits have been loaded on first
two and three components accounting for about 78.92% and 72.48% variance in chilli parents
and crosses respectively. The Eigen values ranged from 2.60 for first PC to 1.34 for second PC
for chilli parents and 1.49 for first PC to 1.03 for third PC for chilli crosses chilli parents the
first two principal components with eigen values greater than 1 were found to contribute
52.10% and 26.82% of variance respectively, explaining a cumulative variation of 72.98%
and in case of the chilli crosses the first three principal components with eigen values greater
than 1 were found to contribute 29.92%, 21.91% and 20.65% of variance respectively,
explaining a cumulative variation of 72.48%. The results of the principal component analysis
employed in the study have demonstrated the high degree of genetic variation and the traits
contributing to the variance, therefore this population panel can be used for trait development
in breeding programs for the traits contributing to major variation.