The Effect of Different Levels of Water Deficit on Some Yield Parameters of Quinoa

Quinoa cultivation was practiced for many years in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. With the declaration of 2013 as the "World Year of Quinoa" by FAO, the interest in quinoa suddenly increased. In this study, the effects of 5 different irrigation water levels (full irrigation, 25% deficit, 50% deficit, 75% deficet and unirrigated) on some yield parameters (plant height, number of branches, raceme yield, stem yield, seed yield and harvest index) of quinoa plants were investigated. End of the study, the plant height was 36.9-66.2 cm, the number of branches was 12.0-19.7 pieces/plant, the raceme rate was 81.2-84.2%, the stem yield was 330.3-673.3 kg/ha, the seed yield was 153.0-466.7 kg/ha and the harvest index was 29.8-41.0% varied between. While plant height, number of branches, stem yield, seed yield and harvest index of quinoa plant the were decreased progressively subject to deficit water stress, raceme ratio was not significantly affected. While the highest value in all yield parameters was obtained from full irrigation applications, significant decreases were observed in the values of yield parameters as the irrigation water deficit increased. As a result, it was concluded that irrigation is essential to obtain high efficiency in quinoa cultivation in arid and semi-arid regions.