Analysis of Variability Parameters for Morphological and Agronomic Traits in Grain Amaranth (amaranthus Sp) Genotypes

Grain Amaranth is a very versatile pseudo-cereal crop and grown in a wide range of agro-climatic conditions (temperature 20-40oC, elevation 500-2500m amsl and rainfall 800 mm to 1500 mm). The genus Amaranthus consists of approximately 60 species out of which about 18 species are occurring in India. There are three major grain producing Amaranthus species, A. caudatus, A. cruentus and A. hypochondriacus, all believed to originate from Central and South America; and three major leafy vegetable species, A. tricolor, A. dubius and A. blitum (A. lividus), of which A. tricolor is thought to originate from India or Southern China, A. blitum from Central Europe and A. dubius from Central America (National Research Council, 1984; Sreelathakumary and Peter, 1993; Grubben, 1993). They grow vigorously, resist drought, heat, and pests; and adapt readily to new environments, including some that are inhospitable to conventional cereal crops. It is one of those rare plants whose leaves are eaten as a vegetable while the seeds are used as cereals. Besides, it is also used as fodder, ornamental, organic red dye and for industrial purposes. The genus Amaranthus is receiving increasing attention because of the nutritional properties of the grain and leaves and can now be found throughout the world (Stallknecht and SchulzSchaeffer, 1993). It’s high in protein, particularly in the amino acid, Lysine, which seeds is low in the cereal grains. Amaranth is one of the highest grains in fiber content. This makes Amaranth an effective agent against cancer and heart disease. Amaranth is also rich in many vitamins and minerals. However, Amaranth contains no gluten and because of this, it’s not good for making yeast breads by itself (O’Brien and Price, 1983). The wide geographical spread of the genus has resulted in the evolution of many landraces in widely separated areas forming a huge gene pool.