Performance of Quinoa under Rainfed Alfisols of South Peninsular India

Quinoa, an ancient crop to contribute to world food security and it is a crop with high potential to contribute to food security in various Regions worldwide, especially in those countries where the population does not have access to protein sources or where production conditions are limited by low humidity, reduced availability of inputs, and aridity. An attempt was done at ARS, Ananthapuramu to study the feasibility to raise the quinoa under rainfed conditions during kharif, 2015 and 2016 under RBD with 6 treatments in four replications. The crop was grown on 24th standard week and harvested at 40th standard week. Among the different varieties highest yield was recorded with under transplanting with 2150 kg/ha, with water use efficiency of 7.32 kg hamm-1 with IC-411824. Further highest germination percentage was recorded with the vermicompost when compared with soil when germination was kept under trays.IC-411824 recorded highest germination percentage (98 %) with vermicompost. The seed vigour and viability characters viz., germination index, seedling length and seed vigour index was highest with IC-411824. Under transplanting all the varieties matures earlier than direct sowing. The vegetative characters viz., plant height increases from vegetative to flowering in all varieties and recorded highest with IC-411824.