4.2 Growth indicators of quinoa at different planting densities
High salinity in the soil reduces plant growth and productivity (Pan et al., 2011). In the study presented here, negative correlation between the rhizosphere soil salinity and fresh panicle weight per plant (Fig. 2) suggested that the salt content of the rhizosphere soil contributed to decreased growth and yield of quinoa. As the planting density increased, the ventilation and light penetration through the canopy were limited, and stem diameter, total biomass, and fresh panicle weight per plant decreased with increasing density. In high-density planting, poor sunlight in the canopy induced plants to grow taller and thinner (Table 1).