This study was conducted in two locations: Pucará (2,413m above sea level) and Mojandita (2,922m above sea level), both of which are found in the province of Imbabura, Ecuador. The objectives of this study were to: characterize the morphological and agronomic traits as well as the overall quality of the ten amaranth accessions in this study; identify the accessions with the highest yield and biomass; determine the nutritional characteristics of the experimental accessions; and determine the cost of production of amaranth per hectare. The following null hypothesis was assumed: the agronomic and nutritional characteristics of the ten accessions in this study are equal in both locations. A randomized block design with ten treatments and three repetitions was employed for each location. The following tests of significance were performed: Tukey test at the 5% significance level for accessions, DMS at 5% for locations and Combined Analysis for the variety x location interaction. The following lines were used: ECU-0014, ECU-0113, ECU-2210, ECU-4737, ECU-4744, which represented pale-seeded grain types, and ECU-0069, ECU-0082, ECU-0102, ECU-0123 and ECU-0162 represented dark-seeded grain types. These accessions were analyzed for: plant height, diameter of the base of the stem, stem length, panicle length, grain/plot yield. Based on the results of this study, we conclude that no significant difference exists between the accessions on the basis of plant height and stem length in either location. For stem diameter, panicle length, and yield, however, significant differences among the accessions were detected. Between locations, the most promising results were observed in Pucará. The accession ECU-2210 gave the highest yield in Mojanda, with 1,300 kg/ha, while the accession ECU-0014 had the highest yield in Pucará, with 1,400 kg/ha. Overall, the best protein and iron content was observed in Mojanda; the accessions ECU-0162 and ECU-4744 had the highest percentage of protein, with 14.93% and 14.58% respectively. The highest observed iron content was 465.0 ppm in the accession ECU-0102. The cost of producing one hectare of cultivated amaranth grain is $1,543.95. The sale of this investment totaled $2,520, giving a cost-benefit ration of $0.63. Growing the accessions ECU-0612 and ECU-4744 is recommended if high protein content is desired, while the accession ECU-0102 is recommended in order to obtain the highest iron content. To obtain the highest yield per square meter, the accessions ECU-2210 is recommended at altitudes of 2,900m above sea level, while ECU-0014 is recommended for altitudes less than 2,600m. Based on the results of this study, it is not recommended that amaranth be planted at altitudes higher than 3,000m.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BGMYU2/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-6440 |
| Date | 01 January 2007 |
| Creators | Tuston Torres, Sixto Stalin |
| Publisher | BYU ScholarsArchive |
| Source Sets | Brigham Young University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Coverage | Imbabura (Ecuador), Ibarra (Ecuador) |
| Rights | http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/ |
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