Morphological Characterization and Variability Studies in Vegetable Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) under Temperate Conditions
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Date
2017
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SKUAST Kashmir
Abstract
The present investigation entitled “Morphological Characterization and Variability Studies in Vegetable Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) Under Temperate Conditions” was undertaken to establish morphological characterization, estimate the coefficients of variability, heritability, genetic gain, correlation coefficients, path analysis in twenty seven genotypes of vegetable amaranth. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications and a spacing of 30 cm × 30 cm. Observations were recorded on various morphological, quantitative and quality traits. Characterization indicated wide variability with respect to leaf colour, inflorescence colour and stem colour. Other traits also exhibited considerable variability. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among genotypes for all the traits studied. The maximum range was recorded for plant height (59.66-302.99cm) followed by number of leaves plant-1 (50.20-170.33), vitamin C content (39.37-130.70 mg/100g), leaf yield (10.73-89.68q ha-1) and leaf area (4.51-68.42cm2).The highest phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variability were observed for lateral spikelet length followed by anthocyanin content, inflorescence length, leaf area, stem thickness and petiole length leaf, yield per hectare, leaf yield plant-1, plant height, number of branches plant-1, leaf length, number of leaves plant-1. In general the phenotypic coefficients of variation were slightly higher than the corresponding genotypic coefficients of variation, which indicates the minor role of environment in the expression of traits. The estimates of heritability in broad sense were high for all the characters. Per se performance of the experimental material indicated SKAU-A-7, SKAU-A-18, SKAU-A-24, SKAU-A-14, SKAU-A-22 and SKAU-15 to be important in respect of leaf yield, yield contributing and quality traits. Correlation coefficients revealed that the leaf yield plant-1 exhibited significant positive association with plant height (rg=0.74, rp=0.73) followed by inflorescence length (rg= 0.66 rp= 0.64), stem thickness (rg= 0.52, rp= 0.50), number of branches plant-1 (rg= 0.50, rp = 0.45), petiole length (rg= 0.43, rp= 0.42), leaf area (rg= 0.34, rp= 0.33), leaf length (rg= 0.33, rp= 0.32), number of leaves plant-1(rg= 0.27, rp= 0.26) and total chlorophyll content (rg= 0.26, rp= 0.25) suggesting improvement of leaf yield through improvement of these component traits. Path coefficient analysis revealed high direct positive effect on leaf yield via plant height followed by inflorescence length, petiole length, vitamin C content, anthocyanin content, leaf area and total chlorophyll content revealing their importance in selection.
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M.Sc Thesis submitted to SKUAST Kashmir