MSc

The present study entitled “Identification of water stress tolerant amaranthus genotypes (Amaranthus tricolor L.) with high yield and quality” was carried out in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2016-2018, with an objective to identify high yielding genotypes of amaranthus with good quality and tolerance to water stress.
The study was conducted under two experiments. In the first experiment thirty accessions of Amaranthus tricolor L. available in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics and collected from other sources were evaluated for yield under field condition and morphologically described using IBPGR descriptor for the amaranthus. Madhur local (A22) recorded highest yield plant-1(125.926g) followed by Kalliyoor local (A4), Ayyanthole local (A28), Haripad local (A7), Palakkadu local (A2), Anachal local (A6), Aryanadu local (A21), Poonkulam local (A20), Kazhakkuttom local (A9) and Kannara local (A29). In the second experiment, these ten genotypes selected based on the yield were evaluated in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications during November 2017- December 2017. Water stress was imposed after 5 days of irrigation to water holding capacity to the transplanted seedlings by scheduling the irrigation at a depth of 20mm at 20mm CPE (Cumulative Pan Evaporation). Analysis of variance was calculated for all the characters under study and was found to be significant for all the genotypes evaluated.
The mean performance of the genotypes for the characters were studied. The maximum yield was observed for the genotype A22 (Madhur local) followed by the genotype A9 (Kazhakkuttom local), genotype A20 (Poonkulam local) and genotype A2 (Palakkadu local) and the minimum yield was recorded for genotype A4 (Kalliyoor local). The genotype A22 (Madhur local) showed the highest mean
values for stem girth, number of branches, length of leaf lamina, leaf to stem ratio, membrane integrity, relative water content, proline content of leaves, vitamin A and lowest oxalate content.
The character Vitamin A content registered the highest GCV (41.22%) and PCV (41.25%). High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for leaf width, number of branches, yield plant-1, protein content, fibre content and vitamin A. The yield plant-1was found to be significantly and positively correlated with leaf width, number of branches, yield plot-1, membrane integrity, proline content of leaves and vitamin A both at genotypic and phenotypic levels. Petiole length and percentage leachate were found to be negatively correlated with yield plant-1. Path analysis revealed that number of branches, yield plot-1and proline content of leaves had the maximum positive direct effect on yield plant-1.
The results of the present study showed that genotype A22 (Madhur local) was superior in yield performance under water stress condition followed by the genotype A9 (Kazhakkuttom local), genotype A20 (Poonkulam local) and the genotype A2 (Palakkadu local). The genotype A22 (Madhur local) also recorded the maximum stem girth, number of branches, length of leaf lamina, leaf to stem ratio, membrane integrity, relative water content and proline content of leaves with high Vitamin A and low oxalate content. Presence of proline in the leaves might be considered as an important water stress tolerance mechanism.