Abstract :

Buckwheat is gaining attention as a promising crop because of its nutritional value and ability to grow under diverse environmental conditions. This study investigated the performance of three buckwheat varieties Common Buckwheat, Devyadka, and Zyloni under the agro-climatic conditions of Kabul during the 2025 growing season. The field experiment was carried out at the Research Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Kabul University, using a randomized complete block design with four replications across two contrasting field environments. Several growth characteristics, including plant height, leaf number, leaf width, and number of branches per plant, together with total biomass and 100-seed weight, were evaluated. The results revealed that plant height, leaf number, leaf width, and total biomass varied significantly among the varieties and between environments, with a clear interaction between genotype and environmental conditions. These findings indicate that the growth and productivity of buckwheat are strongly influenced by the environment in which each variety is cultivated. In contrast, the number of branches per plant and 100-seed weight remained relatively stable across environments, suggesting that these traits are less affected by environmental variation. Among the tested varieties, Devyadka produced the greatest vegetative growth and biomass under favourable conditions but showed greater sensitivity to environmental changes. Common Buckwheat maintained consistent performance across both environments, demonstrating strong adaptability and stable productivity, while Zyloni displayed moderate performance with reasonable stability. The study concludes that environmental conditions play an important role in determining buckwheat performance in Kabul. Considering both yield potential and stability, Common Buckwheat is the most suitable variety for cultivation under the variable agro-climatic conditions of the region.

---

Keywords :

Buckwheat varieties; Biomass yield; Growth traits; Environmental adaptability; Kabul climate

---

References :

1. Amelin, A. V., Fesenko, A. N., Zaikin, V. V., & Chekalin, E. I. (2022). Plant leaves structural and functional parameters in different breeding periods buckwheat varieties. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 981(4), 042066. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/981/4/042066
2. Butenko, A., Datsko, O., Shumkova, O., Bahorka, M., Musiienko, V., Yurchenko, N., et al. (2025). Sustainable buckwheat growing: Agrotechnical and economic assessment of the mineral fertilizers’ role. Agriculture & Forestry. https://doi.org/10.17707/AgricultForest.71.1.04
3. Gao, L., Wang, H., Wan, C., Wang, P., Eeckhout, M., & Gao, J. (2023). Suitable nitrogen fertilizer application drives the endosperm development and starch synthesis to improve the physicochemical properties of common buckwheat grain. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 235, 123837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.123837
4. González-Villagra, J., Solano, J., Ávila, K., Tranamil-Manquein, J., Tighe-Neira, R., Ribera-Fonseca, A., & Inostroza-Blancheteau, C. (2025). Physiological performance and grain yield components of common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) cultivated under different nitrogen rates. Plants, 14(13), 2037. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14132037
5. Grimes, S. J., Afzal, M., Tako, R., Hahn, V., Graeff-Hönninger, S., & Longin, C. F. H. (2025). Buckwheat in Germany: The effect of variety and sowing date on agronomic traits. Agronomy Journal, 117(5), e70192. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.70192
6. Hassona, M. M., Abd El-Aal, H. A., Morsy, N. M., & Hussein, A. M. (2024). Abiotic and biotic factors affecting crop growth and productivity: Unique buckwheat production in Egypt. Agriculture, 14(8), 1280. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14081280
7. Hou, S., Han, J., Men, Y., Yang, Y., Long, L., Liu, L., & Sun, Z. (2024). Analysis of genotype-by-environment effects on starch content in 281 Tartary buckwheat varieties and evaluation of the physicochemical properties of two elite varieties. LWT, 197, 115866. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2024.115866
8. Joshi, B. K. (2023). Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench and F. tataricum Gaertn.). In Neglected and Underutilized Crops (pp. 151–200). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90537-4.00016-8
9. Karazhbei, P. P., Povydalo, M. V., Buslaieva, N. H., & Kovalenko, T. M. (2022). Creation of buckwheat raw material as the basis for developing high-yield adaptive varieties. Agriculture and Plant Sciences: Theory and Practice, (2), 65–71. https://doi.org/10.54651/agri.2022.02.08
10. Kumar, M., Kaushik, D., & Kasodhan, S. (2024). Buckwheat. In Cereals and Nutraceuticals (pp. 191–207). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-2542-7_9
11. Lițoiu, A. A., Păucean, A., Lung, C., Zmuncilă, A., & Chiș, M. S. (2025). An overview of buckwheat—A superfood with applicability in human health and food packaging. Plants, 14(14), 2200. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14142200
12. Romanovskaja, D., Razukas, A., & Asakaviciute, R. (2022). Influence of morphostructural elements on buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) productivity in different agricultural systems. Plants, 11(18), 2382. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11182382
13. Sharma, A., Pandey, H., Manpoong, C., Vashishth, A., Singh, D., & Bang, N. T. H. (2023). Biometric analysis, biosynthetic pathway and multipurpose uses of buckwheat local varieties in the eastern Himalayas of India. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 136, 251–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2023.04.020
14. Tao, J., Wan, C., Leng, J., Dai, S., Wu, Y., Lei, X., et al. (2023). Effects of biochar coupled with chemical and organic fertilizer application on physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) starch. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 246, 125591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125591
15. Tryhub, O. V., Liashenko, V. V., Bahan, A. V., Shakalii, S. M., Yurchenko, S. O., Rybalchenko, A. M., et al. (2026). Manifestation of elements of seed productivity of plants of the national collection of edible buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench). https://dspace.pdau.edu.ua/handle/123456789/20937
16. Vieites-Alvarez, Y., Reigosa, M. J., & Sanchez-Moreiras, A. M. (2024). A decade of advances in the study of buckwheat for organic farming and agroecology (2013–2023). Frontiers in Plant Science, 15, 1354672. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2024.1354672
17. Wan, C., Wang, J., Gao, L., Lei, X., Tao, J., Gao, X., et al. (2022). Proteomics characterization of the synthesis and accumulation of starch and amino acids driven by high-nitrogen fertilizer in common buckwheat. Food Research International, 162, 112067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2022.112067
18. Żarczyński, P. J., Mackiewicz-Walec, E., Krzebietke, S. J., Sienkiewicz, S., Hlinková, S., & Żarczyńska, K. (2026). Common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Mill.) as a support for sustainable agriculture. Sustainability, 18(6), 2823. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18062823