HIGH YIELD AND STABILITY IMPROVED CULTIVAR OF GRAIN AMARANTH (AMARANTHUS HYPOCHONDRIACUS L.) IN PLAIN REGIONS OF INDIA

The aim of the study was to select Grain amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.) varieties with high grain yield and stable performance across different environments.The material for study consist of set of 13 release varieties of Grain amaranth subjected to multilocation seed yield trial for two years (2012-13) at five locations in randomization block design.The test of significance for genotype x environment (GE) interaction and eight non-parametric measures of stability analysis were used to identify genotypes with higher yield and stability in performance across five environments tested across the country.A new approach Combined Stability Index based on yield stability performance calculated on the ranking of the used stability major of all the genotypes, Durga (CSI (i) =11) and BGA 2 (CSI (i) =14) were identified most stable and high potential yield.Based on low value of Combined Stability Index, Durga(CSI (i) =11) and BGA 2 (CSI (i) =14) were identified most stable and high potential yield.The non-parametric measures were observed to be associated with high mean grain yield.The variety Durga in section I was the most favourable genotype due to high grain yield as well as high stability performance according to plotting diagram of all non-parametric measures with grain yield.Durga (G3), which had higher grain yield (13.65 q/ha) and high protein content (14.10%) with better stability across the environments was suitable for cultivation across India both in Hills and Plains.