Comparison between Planting and Sowing as Forms of Amaranthus (Amaranthus spp.) Propagation and Investigation of Different Seeding Depths

Abstract

Amaranth is a broad leaf pseudocereal native to South and Central America and can be used as a source of high protein grain, as a leafy vegetable and has the potential to grow as fodder. The objective of this work was to evaluate some characteristics of amaranth agronomic interest (Amaranthus spp), as the best way of propagation of the crop, whether by planting of seedlings or direct seeding, and also to determine the most suitable depth of sowing of amaranth. Three treatments were established to conduct the first experiment, seedling versus no-tillage using the BRS-Alegria variety: the first (T1) was the planting of seedlings with 15 days old, previously produced in a greenhouse, on the day of establishment of the experiment in the beds; the second (T2) was the direct sowing in the soil on the day of establishment of the experiment in the beds; and the third (T3) was the transplanting of surplus seedlings from the first treatment, after two weeks of establishment of the experiment in the beds. The T1 treatment was the one that presented the best performance in the attributes of lap diameter and dry mass of plants, being not different, only, at plant height, in relation to T2 treatment. The treatments T2 and T3 presented the same performance for all attributes studied. The second experiment was carried out with the objective of evaluating the best sowing depth for the Amaranthus varieties: BRS-Alegria, Diócus, Princes, Verde (Amaranthus cruentus) and Inca (Amaranthus caudatus), under zero millimeters soil), five millimeters, and ten millimeters deep. The BRS - Alegria, Verde and Diócus varieties showed the best results when tested at 0, 5 and 10mm depth, with the average of plants emerged at 15 days after sowing, of 71.4; 65.9 and 61.0 respectively. The worst results were found in the Princes and Inca varieties, with average values of emerged plants of 51.3 and 47.2, respectively. As for the seeding depths, the best were 10 and 5 mm, with plants emerged after 15 days, of 86.9 and 77.9, respectively. The worst result was for the 0mm depth with an average of 13.3 emerged plants.