Developing the Dorset Naga ‘Dorset Naga’ is a Capsicum chinense developed by Peppers by Post in West Dorset. It was selected from ‘Naga Morich’, a chilli held in high regard by Britian’s Bangladeshi community. The original propagating material for Dorset Naga came from Makkah Oriental Food Stores located in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. Fruit were bought in the winter of 2001/2002; and their seeds were extracted, air dried and sown in the middle of February, 2002. These seeds produced six seedlings that were subsequently grown on to maturity. In addition, two small Naga plants were also bought from Makkah, probably in May or June. We are not sure who raised these plants, though it is likely that they came from an entrepreneurial Bangladeshi gardener trying to capitalise on the chilli’s popularity. All eight plants were cultivated in unheated polytunnels on our market garden – five were transplanted directly into the soil, while three went into large pots. The plants grew into a variable population, displaying different heights and a diversity of fruit sizes and shapes. We identified the plants with the largest fruit, and seeds were collected from these fruit, air dried and bulked. Unfortunately, our notes are rather sketchy, but we think the seed came from just two plants. In 2003, we expanded the population and grew seventy plants from the seed of the 2002 crop. The ‘Naga’ was advertised in our catalogue, so that we were selling and selecting simultaneously. Once again, the crop produced a variable population. Five plants (at least we think it was five plants) were selected as displaying the characteristics we wanted for our Naga: large plant size, early maturity, and large, wedge-shaped fruit with a finely wrinkled skin. All the fruit on these plants were picked, and the seed was extracted, air dried and bulked into one lot for planting the following year. Responding to encouraging sales in 2003, the Naga crop was doubled to 140 plants for selling in our 2004 catalogue. This crop produced a more uniform population: plant height was particularly uniform to the eye, and fruit shape and size were becoming more to our liking. More selections were made, though plants per se were not singled out. Instead, we took the largest fruit displaying the wedge shape and wrinkled skin that we were now associating with our Naga brand. As was becoming our practice, the seeds were extracted from these fruit, air dried and bulked into one lot for the 2005 crop. In 2005, we decided to check the heat levels of the Dorset Naga. Ripe fruit were collected, dried and ground, and the powder sent to two laboratories in the USA. See ‘Growing, sampling and testing’ for further details. Since 2002 Dorset Naga has been grown along side other species of Capsicum as well as other varieties of C. chinense. No attempt was made to prevent cross pollination – we felt that this was unnecessary since we had encountered only a few cases of cross pollination in home saved seed of our other peppers. In retrospect, our selection technique seems a bit eccentric and roundabout, and we are sure there are more efficient ways to develop a variety. However, we got there in the end, and considering its Bangladeshi origin and Dorset connections, we decided to call this new variety ‘Dorset Naga’. We have applied for Plant Variety Protection for Dorset Naga. Description of Dorset Naga (Capsicum chinense) In addition, Dorset Naga displays its own varietal characteristics. The plants are robust, consistently growing to a height of 1.5m or more. They are bushy, producing many branches from the base. The fruit start green, and ripen to a red colour. They are wedge-shaped, with three locules and often a nipple at the end. Although some can be quite small, the fruit are generally 4-5 cm long and 3-4 cm wide at the shoulders. Larger fruit can be up to 6 cm long. The skin is finely wrinkled, and the flesh is thin. The most significant feature of Dorset Naga, however, is its extreme pungency, which makes it a contender for the title of ‘hottest chilli in the world’. |
