A pot experiment was conducted at College of Horticulture, Mudigere under protected condition to study the effect of moisture stress on performance of four local genotypes of chia viz., H. D. Kote local, Mysore local, T. Narasipura local and Nanjangud local with three moisture stress levels i. e. 50, 75 and 100 % (Control) of field capacity. The experiment was laid out in a factorial completely randomized design with three replications. The results of the study inferred that different genotypes showed variable results on different attributes due to varying physiological constraints. Genotype H. D. Kote local showed better performance concerning yield, quality and biochemical attributes. While, the genotype Mysore local was found inferior. Severe water stress (50 % of FC) reduced the number of spikes per plant, seed yield per plant (g/plant) and per hectare (kg/ha), test weight of seeds (g), drought tolerance index and protein content (%). However, moderate stress (75 % of FC) registered fewer days to fifty per cent flowering and favored higher protein content in seeds. Likewise, severe stress favoured higher proline content (μg/g fresh weight) in leaves. Therefore, control (100 % of FC) was found beneficial for higher seed yield in chia genotypes.