Vol. 12, Issue 7 (2023)

Author(s):
Baseerat Afroza, Humeera Nazir, Asima Amin, Rakshanda Anayat and Rizwan Rashid

Abstract:
In 2019, a study was carried out to evaluate the performance of fifteen different genotypes of Vegetable Amaranth collected from various regions across India during the Kharif season. The research employed a complete randomized block design with three replications at each location for the experiment. This design was chosen to minimize bias and ensure the validity of the results obtained from different locations during the study. Various traits were measured and recorded, including days to germination, length of leaves, leaf area, length of petioles, plant height, stem thickness, number of branches per plant, length of inflorescence, plant spread, days to 50% flowering, number of leaves per plant, average leaf yield per plot, weight of 1000 seeds, average seed yield per plot, soluble solid content (ᵒBrix), ascorbic acid content, total chlorophyll content, anthocyanin content, dry matter percentage, and protein content percentage. The results showed significant variation in most of the traits, indicating a wide range of values within the population. The genotypic coefficients of variation were high for all traits, suggesting considerable genetic diversity among the studied genotypes. The majority of traits exhibited a high broad-sense heritability, implying that a significant portion of the observed variation can be ascribed to genetic factors, with the exception of anthocyanin content. Notably, leaf yield per plot demonstrated positive and significant correlations with various traits, such as days to germination, length of leaves, leaf area, length of petioles, plant height, stem thickness, number of branches per plant, length of inflorescence, plant spread, number of leaves per plant, and average seed yield per plot. These findings suggest that selecting for these traits would likely result in improved leaf yield per plot.