Morphological Characterization, Variability, and Diversity among Amaranth Genotypes from Ethiopia

Abstract Amaranths are dicotyledonous plants with high yield potential, a high mineral uptake rate, short days, and high adaptability. It has been extensively investigated as a model C4 plant. The objectives of the current study were to estimate genetic diversity, heritability, and genetic advance for yield and yield-contributing traits of amaranth genotypes based on agro-morphological traits. The study was done on one hundred twenty amaranth genotypes planted over two growing seasons using an alpha lattice design with two replications. The analysis of variance showed the presence of significant variation (P ≤ 0.001) between genotypes, years, and their interactions for most of the studied traits. Among the genotypes, based on their performance, promising genotypes KAZ-059, 225713, KAZ-058 and KEN-019, 242530, and 212890 exhibited higher leaf area, branch number, and plant height at maturity, and plant height at flowering. Selection based on these traits could be effective for amaranth leaf yield improvement. On the other hand, KEN-016, KEN-020, KAZ-060, KEN-010, KEN-018, and 22571 produced high grain yield along with better leaf area, axillary inflorescence length, terminal inflorescence lateral length, terminal inflorescence stalk length, grain sink filling rate, and thousand seed weight, indicating phenotypic-based selection on these traits might be reliable for grain yield improvement in amaranth genotypes. These genotypes were chosen as a result due to their high yield potential and good yield-related traits. Future selection efforts for amaranth should therefore continue to evaluate the genotypes under various environmental conditions. These genotypes were selected as a result because they had a high potential for yield and desirable traits that might boost yield.