Bell pepper is known as “Shimla Mirch” and is extensively cultivated in hills of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Nilgiri during summer months and as an autumn crop in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. In Himachal Pradesh, it is grown as an off season crop during the summer and rainy seasons and is economically important to small and marginal farmers. Germplasm collection and conservation is the major step in improvement of sweet pepper and this material can be used in hybridization programme.
