Assessment of Variation and Stability Parameters of Five Quinoa Genotypes under Drought Stress Conditions

ENVIRONMENTAL changes are a phenomena that deserve continuous assessment for their impact on the quality and productivity of crop genotypes worldwide, especially required in the Middle East, whether for the development of the agricultural sector or for economic profits. Many crop plants have diverse adaptive mechanisms to tolerate or resist a biotic stress condition. Thus, this study aims to evaluate differential responses of five quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) genotypes in twelve environments (three irrigation levels and two locations during the two growing seasons 2016/2017 and 2017/2018. Although drought is a biotic stress that has been studied in quinoa the assessment of drought tolerance indices and environmental variation of quinoa genotypes across environments has not been studied satisfactorily. Therefore, in the present work, evaluation of yield reliability is conducted depending on drought tolerance indices and stability of tested genotypes as estimated by grain yield. Results show that Line 14 of the tested genotypes excel in the grain yield and stability parameters across different environments, whereas Chipaya genotype shows the best performance under high drought stress conditions. Yield reliability of the tested genotypes is estimated to combine relatively high yield under drought stress conditions as well as response to improved agricultural conditions and high production in favorable environments.

Automated summary

This study aims to evaluate the differential responses of five quinoa genotypes in different environments, and found that Line 14 performs well in terms of grain yield and stability across environments, while Chipaya genotype shows the best performance under high drought stress conditions. According to yield reliability estimation, the tested genotypes have relatively high yield under drought stress conditions and high production in improved agricultural conditions and favorable environments.