TITLE:
Agromophological Characterisation of Amaranth Accessions from Malawi
AUTHORS:
Mvuyeni Nyasulu, Abel Sefasi, Sibongile Chimzinga, Moses Maliro
KEYWORDS:
Phenotypic Descriptors, Accession, Amaranth, Correlation Analysis, Cluster Dendrogram
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.12 No.10,
October
20,
2021
ABSTRACT: Five amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) accessions from central and southern region of Malawi were characterised
at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources using
agro-morphological traits. A total of thirteen descriptors, defined by Plant
Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), were used to characterise the amaranth accessions under study. Field experiments were
carried out for two seasons in August to November, 2018 and January to
March, 2019. The experiments were laid out in a Randomised Complete Block
Design (RCBD), which was replicated four times. The qualitative (plant growth
habit, leaf colour, inflorescence colour, stem colour, inflorescence spininess,
seed colour) and quantitative traits (plant
height, stem girth, leaf length, leaf width, inflorescence length, days
to 80% flowering, grain yield, leaf yield, and days to 80% maturity) evaluated
were significant in defining the uniqueness of different amaranth accessions
evaluated. Significant differences (P versity of amaranth accessions in Malawi, it could
be exploited in future breeding purposes and deserving conservation.