Germplasm Characterization for Morphological Diversity in the Potential Futuristic Crop Amaranthus (Amaranthus spp.)

The present study was carried out to characterize 209 Amaranth germplasm consisting of 124 grain amaranth and 85 vegetable amaranth accessions for various morphological traits in accordance with the DUS guidelines of PPVFRA, New Delhi. The genotypes were characterized for two seasons viz., kharif and summer, wherein same level of expression was observed for the traits. A total of 17 characters were scored, eight in grain amaranths and nine in vegetable amaranths related to vegetative morphology, inflorescence and seed traits. Distinct forms with respect to leaf colour, inflorescence colour, stem colour and other studied traits were observed among the genotypes. The majority of the grain amaranth accessions were green leaved with yellowish green stem, ridged stem surface having yellowish green, erect and dense inflorescence. Seed colour was predominantly creamish. Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index ranged from 1.778 (inflorescence colour) to 0.524 (presence of leaf blotch). Vegetable amaranth accessions had largely medium green leaf blade colour with green inflorescence and green stem. Further, most of the accessions were cutting types with black coloured seeds. Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index in vegetable amaranths varied from high for leaf blade colour (1.529) and stem colour (1.158) to low index for the trait presence of leaf blotch (0.190). Collection, morphological characterization and classification of germplasm helps in identifying distinct genotypes with contrasting characters, which would in turn facilitate to broaden the germplasm base and varietal identification.