Introduction of multipurpose agro-industrial crop quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) in western Himalayas

Two accessions of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) were introduced in mid-hills of the western Himalayas for the first time during 2016 and an experiment was conducted at Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, to study the effect of sowing time on growth, quality parameters and yield. The crop took 129 to 159 days for maturity and performed well under mid-hill conditions. Accumulated growing degree-days (AGDD) ranged from 512 to 2, 432, accumulated photothermal units (APTU) from 5, 595 to 31, 705 and accumulated helio-thermal units (AHTU) from 3, 942 to 18, 183 during seed sowing to maturity, respectively. Agrometeorological indices showed a positive correlation with growth and yield attributes. Significantly higher plant height was recorded on 30 January sown crop. The highest seed yield was recorded when the crop was sown on 30 January, being 10.48% and 19.63% higher than those sown on 15 February and 15 January, respectively. Protein content in quinoa seed ranged from 18.1 to 21.6% and was significantly higher when the crop was sown on 15 February. Carbohydrate concentration ranged from 65.3 to 67.6% and it was significantly higher in IHBT/Q2 accession. Other nutrients were present in permissible limits. The results showed that the nutritional potential of quinoa seeds is a good source of protein and minerals, and quinoa can be grown as successful crop under mid-hills of the western Himalayas.