Genetic variability and varietal performance in vegetable amaranthus (Amaranthus sp.)

Twelve genotypes of amaranthus collected from various sources and maintained at All India Co-ordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Vegetable Crops, Bhubaneswar were subjected to evaluation for 13 quantitative traits namely as plant height, number of nodes per plant, number of leaves per plant, number of inflorescence per plant, stem girth, leaf length, leaf breadth, petiole length, leaf area, stem weight, leaf weight, leaf: stem ratio and yield per plant. The results of the investigation revealed a wide range of variation for all the characters. Among the genotypes 2012/AMVAR-4 (V4), Bhigarpur Local (V11) and 2012/AMVAR-2 (V2) are the ideal genotypes for cultivation at Bhubaneswar (Odisha).Presence of minimum difference between phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the characters indicated that the phenotypes were true to the genotypes. Expression of high to moderate PCV and GCV for characters like number of inflorescence per plant, leaf: stem ratio, stem weight, yield per plant, leaf weight and plant height indicated the presence of good amount of variability among the materials evaluated. So selection for such characters would be effective in Amaranthus. High heritabilities (>80%) were observed for eight characters such as leaf: stem ratio, stem weight, number of inflorescence per plant, number of leaves per plant, yield per plant, petiole length, plant height and leaf weight. Moderate to high heritabilities (60-80%) were observed for rest of the five characters. Highest genetic advance as percentage of mean was observed in number of inflorescence per plant followed by leaf: stem ratio, stem weight, yield per plant and leaf weight. Rest of the characters showed low to moderate values for this genetic parameter. Considering the three genetic parameters together such as genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), heritability estimates and genetic advance as percentage of mean altogether,it may be inferred that phenotypic selection for number of inflorescence per plant, leaf: stem ratio, stem weight, yield per plant, leaf weight and plant height may prove to be effective criteria for selection in Amaranthus since, these characters are due to additive gene effects and are less influenced by the environment.