Abstract

Soil salinization is a global problem which restricts the choice of crop for cultivation. Management and reclamation of salinity using costly techniques may not be affordable by subsistence farmers. Therefore, it is important to look for new alternate crops like “quinoa” which are more salt-tolerant. As crops vary in their tolerance to salinity, they need to be evaluated for different salinity conditions. This study was conducted to evaluate five quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa W.) genotypes (ICBA-Q1, ICBA-Q2), ICBA-Q3, ICBA-Q4 and ICBA-Q5) for salinity tolerance under four artificially induced salinity (5, 10, 15, 20 dS m^-1) levels. The pot trials were conducted in a greenhouse, using 6 kg of Fluvisol soil in each pot. For comparison, trials were also conducted under field conditions. The parameters studied were rate of seed germination, plant height, fresh and dry biomass, chlorophyll content and grain yield. As expected, salinity had generally an inhibitory effect on all parameters. Out of the five quinoa varieties (ICBA-Q1 to ICBA-Q5), ICBA-Q3 and ICBA-Q4 proved to be more salt-tolerant. Therefore these two genotypes are recommended to farmers for large-scale adaptation.

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