Physiological Response of Genotypes and Sowing Dates in the Growth and Yield of Chenopodium Quinoa Willd

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out at the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences - University of Baghdad- Iraq, where the research station is located at latitude 33.2°N and longitude 44.38°E at the agricultural season 2019-2020. The study aimed to investigate the physiological behavior of genotypes and sowing dates in the growth and yield of quinoa in a factorial experiment using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates. The first factor included two quinoa genotypes; the first one is QW as white seed’s and QR the red seed. On the other hand, the second factor included four sowing dates, which are 1/10, 15/10, 1/11, and 15/11, symbolized by T1, T2, T3, and T4, respectively. The results showed the superiority of the white seeds genotype by giving the highest average leaves number, leaf area, and heads weight was 131.70 leaves. plant-1, 31.90 cm2. plant-1, and 21.68 gm/ head respectively. However, the second sowing date, 15/10, was exceeded by giving the highest plant height, number of branches per plant, leaf area, chlorophyll content, and heads weight, which reached 95.50 cm and 17.79 branches. plant-1 and 28.90 cm2.plant-1, 98.40 SPAD, and 26.26 gm. head-1 respectively. As for the interaction between varieties and sowing dates, the white variety exceeded in the second date by giving the highest dry weight per plant, which amounted to 30.00 gm. plant-1. The study results showed that it is preferred to plant the white variety early in the quinoa plant in Iraq to increase production.