Evaluation of foliage yield and leaf quality traits in Chenopodium spp. in multiyear trials

Stability of foliage yield and its quality components has not been investigated in vegetable chenopods due to their underutilized status. The objectives of the present study were to assess genotype-environment interactions (GEI), determine stability of yield and quality components and to compare different parametric and non-parametric stability parameters. The present study reports for the first time the effect of genotype and environment on foliage yield and three leaf quality traits viz. carotenoid, ascorbic acid and protein content in different species of Chenopodium. Twenty accessions comprising four species were tested in a randomized block design with three replications across four environments. For all the four traits the largest sum of squares was accounted for by the genotypes, followed by GEI and environments. Highest foliage yield of 16.02 q/ha was obtained from C. album PRC 9804, while the lowest was from C. album CHEN 63/80 (4.01 q/ha). Many indigenous accessions of C. album (PRC 9801, IC 107299, ‘Chandigarh’, ‘local’ and ‘NEFA’) were unstable both for foliage yield and most of the quality traits. Most of the exotic accessions of C. giganteum were both stable and high yielding, thus, reflecting the potential of these accessions for future breeding programs/variety release.