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The goal of sustainable intensification of agriculture in Malawi has led to the evaluation of innovative, regionally novel or under-utilized crop species. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) has the potential to provide a drought tolerant, nutritious alternative to maize. We evaluated 11 diverse varieties of quinoa for their yield and agronomic performance at two locations, Bunda and Bembeke, in Malawi. The varieties originated from Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia in South America; the United States and Canada in North America; and, Denmark in Europe, and were chosen based on their variation in morphological and agronomic traits, and their potential for adaptation to the climate of Malawi. Plant height, panicle length, days to maturity, harvest index, and seed yield were recorded for each variety under irrigation at Bunda and Bembeke, and under rainfed conditions at Bunda. Plant height was significantly influenced by both genotype and environment. There were also significant differences between the two locations for panicle length whereas genotype and genotype × environment (G × E) interaction were not significantly different. Differences were found for genotype and G × E interaction for harvest index. Notably, differences for genotype, environment and G × E were found for grain yield. Seed yield was higher at Bunda (237–3019 kg/ha) than Bembeke (62–692 kg/ha) under irrigated conditions. The highest yielding genotype at Bunda was Titicaca (3019 kg/ha) whereas Multi-Hued was the highest (692 kg/ha) at Bembeke. Strong positive correlations between seed yield and (1) plant height (r = 0.74), (2) days to maturity (r = 0.76), and (3) biomass (r = 0.87) were found under irrigated conditions. The rainfed evaluations at Bunda revealed significant differences in seed yield, plant biomass, and seed size among the genotypes. The highest yielding genotype was Black Seeded (2050 kg/ha) followed by Multi-Hued (1603 kg/ha) and Bio-Bio (1446 kg/ha). Ecuadorian (257 kg/ha) was the lowest yielding genotype. In general the seed yields of the genotypes were lower under rainfed conditions than under irrigated conditions at Bunda. The results also highlight the need to continue evaluating a diverse number of cultivars to select for genotypes adapted to specific agro-ecological areas and across seasons in Malawi.

Chemical analysis and mineral composition of twenty accessions of grain and leaf Amaranth (Amaranthus L.) collected from different agro-ecological zones of Central Malawi were conducted according to the standards of Association of Official Analytical Chemistry (AOAC). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means were separated using least significance difference (P ≤ 0.05) in Gen Stat version 15. The analyses for grain Amaranth showed that moisture content ranges from 10.69 to 12.22% while ash content varied from 4.4 to 8.7%. Elemental analyses in mg/100 grams on dry weight basis indicated that the grain had calcium (78.3 to 1004.6), iron (3.61 to 22.51), magnesium (44.31 to 97.38), potassium (267.8 to 473.6) and zinc (0.53 to 1.20). The mean differences for leaf chemical analyses were highly significant (p < 0.001) with crude protein ranging from 13.37 to 23.27%; ash (14.08 to 19.95%) and Vitamin C (30.3 to 117.79 mg/100 g) while the mean mineral leaf analyses in mg/100 grams ranged from 14.84 to 31.17 for iron, 1.03 to 3.46 for zinc, 1512 to 2381 for calcium, 1320 to 1677 for potassium and 383.4 to 513.9 for magnesium. Generally the accessions from mid altitude area of Lilongwe showed highest values for both grain and leaf mineral analyses while accessions from the high altitude showed lower values. The results of this study provide evidence that local Amaranthus genotypes have appreciable amount of nutrients, minerals and vitamins important to meet dietary requirements of rural and urban communities in Malawi.

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Six hundred accessions of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) landraces and its wild relatives from 28 different countries, available at Australian Temperate and Field Crops Collection (ATFCC) were screened for tolerance to salt under greenhouse conditions using three sampling strategies; (1) random sampling of 200 accessions from different countries, (2) restricted random sampling of 200 accessions from geographical regions with salinity problems and high diversity (Middle East and West & South Asia) and (3) as for strategy 1 but with a reduced representation of accessions from the geographical regions used in strategy 2. Degree of salt tolerance was based on necrosis scores and shoot biomass reduction relative to unstressed controls at harvest after subjecting stressed plants to salt treatment from 21 to 42 days after sowing. There was a wide variation in salinity tolerance determined by both measures. For sampling strategies 1, 2 and 3 respectively; 24, 28 and 14% of accessions were salt tolerant. Accessions from the middle east and south Asian (regions with salinity problem, a long history of chickpea cultivation and high diversity) gave a higher probability (P < 0.01) of getting salt tolerant accessions.

Five amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) accessions from central and southern region of Malawi were characterised at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources using agro-morphological traits. A total of thirteen descriptors, defined by Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), were used to characterise the amaranth accessions under study. Field experiments were carried out for two seasons in August to November, 2018 and January to March, 2019. The experiments were laid out in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD), which was replicated four times. The qualitative (plant growth habit, leaf colour, inflorescence colour, stem colour, inflorescence spininess, seed colour) and quantitative traits (plant height, stem girth, leaf length, leaf width, inflorescence length, days to 80% flowering, grain yield, leaf yield, and days to 80% maturity) evaluated were significant in defining the uniqueness of different amaranth accessions evaluated. Significant differences (P < 0.05) obtained from analysis of variance were observed in all the parameters studied. Correlation analysis was conducted using Genstat statistical package version 18 while cluster analysis was done using R statistical software. The agro-morphological characterisation results showed a wide range of variation for most of the qualitative characters. Wide variability was present in all the qualitative characters except for plant growth habit where all the accessions exhibited erect plant growth habit. These results point to high possibility of genetic diversity of amaranth accessions in Malawi, it could be exploited in future breeding purposes and deserving conservation.

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M.F.A. Maliro, and A.L. Njala. 2019. Agronomic performance and strategies of promoting Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) in Malawi. Cien. Inv. Agr. 46(2): 82-99. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) has the potential to contribute to Malawi's food and nutritional security by adaptation to droughts that have become frequent due to climate change. Eleven genotypes of quinoa were introduced in 2012 and evaluated for plant growth and yield performance in different environments of central and southern regions of Malawi to determine the potential for quinoa production in the country. The first trials were conducted at Bunda in Lilongwe and Bembeke in Dedza in 2012 under irrigated conditions. Trials under rainfed conditions were conducted at the Bunda site in the 2012/13 and 2014/15 cropping seasons. Evaluation of thirteen promising genotypes under irrigated conditions (2014 to 2015)was extended to six extension planning areas, including Chiluwa in Salima and Nkhunga (Nkhotakota) as warm environments, Mwansambo (Nkhotakota) as a mildly warm environment, Malomo (Ntchisi) as a mildly cool environment, and Kalira 2 (Ntchisi) and Nalunga (Dowa) as cool environments. The genotypes were laid out in completely randomized block designs with four replicates. The maturity period of the genotypes was early in the warm sites (88 days in Nkhunga and 94 days in Chiluwa) and delayed in the cooler sites (121 days in Nalunga and 120 days in Kalira). On the basis of genotype and site-specific results, the highest grain yields were achieved for Brightest Brilliant Rainbow (BBR) (3,992 kg ha -1 ), QQ74 (3,652 kg ha -1 ), Black Seeded (3,426 kg ha -1 ), Multi-Hued (3,272 kg ha -1 ) and Puno (3,251 kg ha -1 ) in Nalunga and in QQ74 (4,311 kg ha -1 ), BBR (3,331 kg ha -1 ), Multi-Hued (3,184 kg ha -1 ) and Cherry Vanilla (3,056 kg ha -1 ) in Malomo. The lowest yields obtained were from Cherry Vanilla, Red Head (1,276 kg ha -1 ) and BBR (1,255 kg ha -1 ) in Chiluwa. Quinoa production is possible in Malawi. The genotypes QQ74, BBR, Multi-Hued, Cherry Vanilla, Bio-Bio, Titicaca and Black Seeded have been released for commercial production. Engagement of both government and nongovernmental organizations with a focus on seed systems, processing and utilization can help to integrate quinoa into the food systems of Malawi.