STUDIES ON GENETIC PARAMETERS IN GRAIN AMARANTHUS (AMARANTHUS HYPOCHONDRIACUS L.) AS INFLUENCED BY PLANT DENSITIES

Selection of genotypes with adequate combination of traits with high yield at the appropriate density level increased the productivity in amaranth. The study was therefore undertaken to estimate genetic attributes of different amaranth genotypes and to identify and select genotypes with adequate trait combination for improvement in yield. In grain amaranthus (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.) ten genotypes were evaluated for twelve characters under four plant density levels viz., very high (D1), high (D2), normal (D3) and low plant density (D4) to study the different selection parameters for grain yield and its eleven contributing morphological and quality traits. The study was conducted at College Orchard, Department of Horticulture, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture and Research Institute, TNAU, Karaikal during rabi 2007. The results revealed that the GCV was maximum in high plant density when compared to very high, normal and low plant density levels for the characters viz., fresh weight of the inflorescence, length of the rachis per inflorescence, grain yield per plant and total carbohydrates. Leaf area at 50 per cent flowering, fresh weight of the inflorescence, number of secondary branches per inflorescence and total carbohydrates are recorded high magnitude of genetic variability in combination with high heritability and genetic advance as per cent of mean in all the four plant density levels.