Abstract
Amaranth is one of the most commonly produced and consumed indigenous vegetables on the African continent. In Tanzania amaranth constitutes about 5.3% of total vegetable hectarage planted annually. Most cultivated varieties of amaranth are landraces with relatively poor leaf and grain yield. This study was conducted to identify genotypes with potential for dual purpose (leaf and grain) use for promotion or further cultivar development. An experiment was carried out in two seasons at AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center in Arusha, Tanzania from Feb to May and June to Sep 2012. Fourteen genotypes were used in a randomized complete block design. Results indicated that leaf yield differed significantly among the genotypes in both trial 1 (p ≤ 0.01) and 2 (p ≤ 0.05). The highest leaf yields were obtained in genotypes RVI00117 (32.8 t/ha) and RV2 (14 t/ha) in trial 1 and 2, respectively. The lowest leaf yields were obtained from genotypes RVI00121 and RV00090 (4 and 6.3 t/ha) in trials 1 and 2, respectively. There were significant differences (p ≤ 0.001) among genotypes for grain yield obtained after leaf harvesting. Genotype RVI00022 had the highest seed yield (1971.3 kg/ha) over the two seasons. Where leaf was not harvested, genotype RVI00121 had the highest seed yield (2920 kg/ha) over the two seasons. From this study, we recommend genotypes RVI00121 and RV1 for grain production. For dual purpose use, we recommend RV7 during warm and wet conditions and RVI00022 during cool and dry condition. Key words: Amaranth, leaf yield, seed yield, genotype performance,
Highlights
Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), a C4 plant, is extensively grown as a green leafy vegetable and for its grain in many tropical countries in Africa, Central and Southern
The genus Amaranthus consists over 60 species, several of which are cultivated as leaf vegetables, grains, or ornamental plants, while others are considered weeds (Maboko, 1999; DAFF, 2010)
Data collected in trial-1 included leaf yield, number of leaf harvested per plant, leaf length and width, number of branches per plant, days to 50% flowering, plant height and grain yield
Summary
Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), a C4 plant, is extensively grown as a green leafy vegetable and for its grain in many tropical countries in Africa, Central and Southern. Mexico and parts of Asia (DAFF, 2010) The genus Amaranthus consists over 60 species, several of which are cultivated as leaf vegetables, grains, or ornamental plants, while others are considered weeds (Maboko, 1999; DAFF, 2010). Continent (Grubben and Denton, 2004) It is extensively grown as a green leaf vegetable in many tropical countries in Africa like Tanzania, Benin, Togo, Sierra
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