Plant Productions

Plant Productions

Response of growth, yield and absorption of some nutrients in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) cultivars to different levels of plant density and photosynthetic source limitation

Document Type : Research Paper - Agronomy

Authors
Hasan Sharifat
Mohammad Reza Moradi Telavat
Ahmad Koochekzadeh
Ali Moshattati
Hana Aboodeh
Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, University Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Ahvaz, Iran
10.22055/ppd.2025.49372.2267
Abstract
Introduction
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is an annual plant of the family Amaranthaceae. The crop is of interest for growing in environments that experience drought and saline soils. Quinoa has considerable genetic diversity and is able to grow in a variety of environments and with water of poor quality. In addition to its favorable agronomic characteristics, quinoa is also of high nutritional value. The harvested part of the plant is the seed, which contains about 14–20% protein and all the required amino acids, especially lysine and methionine, that are often in short supply in cereals.

Materials and Methods
To investigate the response of yield, grain yield components, morphological and qualitative characteristics of quinoa cultivars to different levels of plant density and photosynthetic sources limitation under the climatic conditions of Ahvaz, a field experiment was conducted as a factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design with four replications during the fall and winter of the 2023-2024 cropping season at the research farm of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan. The experimental factors included three levels of plant density (30, 50 and 70 plant.m-2), four levels of defoliation at the beginning of the flowering stage (1. control (no leaf removal), 2. removal of one-third of the lower leaves of the plant, 3. removal of one-third of the middle leaves of the plant and 4. removal of one-third of the upper leaves of the plant), and quinoa cultivars (including Rahmat and Sadooq).

Results and Discussion
Plant density significantly affected plant height, the number of branches per plant, grain yield, biological yield, plant nitrogen content, grain nitrogen content, and soil nitrogen uptake. Defoliation also had a significant effect on thousand-grain weight. The highest thousand-grain weights were recorded in the non-defoliated control and the treatment involving the removal of leaves from the lower third of the plant, with values of 2.983 and 2.702 g, respectively. In contrast, defoliation of the upper third of the plant resulted in the lowest thousand-grain weight (2.567 g). The highest numbers of grains per panicle (1428 and 1416) were obtained at plant densities of 30 and 50 plants m⁻², respectively, under the non-defoliated control treatment. Conversely, the lowest numbers of grains per panicle (1211 and 12.28) were recorded at plant densities of 30 and 70 plants m⁻², respectively, when the upper third of the leaves was removed. Overall, the highest grain yields were obtained at a plant density of 70 plants m⁻² under the non-defoliated control and lower-third defoliation treatments, yielding 6333 and 5771 kg ha⁻¹, respectively. The lowest grain yield (1451 kg ha⁻¹) was observed at a plant density of 30 plants m⁻² when the upper third of the leaves was removed.

Conclusion
Increasing plant density to 70 plants. m-², within the range of acceptable competition for environmental resources, can increase quinoa grain yield. Planting at lower densities could lead to inefficient use of space, light, water and nutrients with resulting decreased crop growth and lower yields than could be obtained at higher densities. The amount of defoliation at flowering also affected grain yield. Removing the lower third of leaves on plants slightly reduced grain yield. However, removing the upper third of leaves on plants greatly reduced grain yield more than the middle or lower third of leaves. This finding reveals that maintenance of the upper canopy is important during reproductive growth to support high levels of photosynthesis and assimilate production. Increased plant density and retention of upper leaves can enhance quinoa grain yield under the conditions examined. Therefore, optimizing plant density and minimizing the removal of photosynthetically active leaves are important considerations for enhancing quinoa productivity.
Keywords
Biomass
Defoliation
Nitrogen
Photosynthesis rate
Subjects
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Plant Productions
Volume 49, Issue 3
Summer 2026
Pages 447-463