Five amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) accessions from central and southern region of Malawi were characterised at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources using agro-morphological traits. A total of thirteen descriptors, defined by Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), were used to characterise the amaranth accessions under study. Field experiments were carried out for two seasons in August to November, 2018 and January to March, 2019. The experiments were laid out in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD), which was replicated four times. The qualitative (plant growth habit, leaf colour, inflorescence colour, stem colour, inflorescence spininess, seed colour) and quantitative traits (plant height, stem girth, leaf length, leaf width, inflorescence length, days to 80% flowering, grain yield, leaf yield, and days to 80% maturity) evaluated were significant in defining the uniqueness of different amaranth accessions evaluated. Significant differences (P < 0.05) obtained from analysis of variance were observed in all the parameters studied. Correlation analysis was conducted using Genstat statistical package version 18 while cluster analysis was done using R statistical software. The agro-morphological characterisation results showed a wide range of variation for most of the qualitative characters. Wide variability was present in all the qualitative characters except for plant growth habit where all the accessions exhibited erect plant growth habit. These results point to high possibility of genetic diversity of amaranth accessions in Malawi, it could be exploited in future breeding purposes and deserving conservation.
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