PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF BREAD WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.) VARIETIES IN THE HIGHLANDS OF SOUTHWESTERN PART OF ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Twelve bread wheat varieties were evaluated across three environments during two main
cropping seasons (2021 and 2022) at the highlands of Southwestern part of Ethiopia. The
objectives of the study were to estimate the magnitude and nature of GEI for grain yield and to
determine yield stability of wheat varieties in the highland areas of southwestern part of
Ethiopia. The study was conducted using a randomized complete block design with three
replications. The result of the combined ANOVA for grain yield revealed highly significant
(P≤0.001) difference among environment (E) genotype (G) and GEI. Environment explained
77.6% of the total variation, whereas G and GEI explained 3.87% and 10.57% of the total
variation, respectively. The magnitude of the environment was many times greater than the
genotype, implying that most of the variation in grain yield was due to the environment. Based
on the combined ANOVA over locations, the mean grain yield of environments ranged from
2tha-1
at Gechi 2021 to 5.8t ha-1
at Dedo2022. The highest yield was harvested from variety
Danda’a (4.6t ha-1
), while the lowest was from Ogolocho (3.5t ha-1
) and the average grain yield
of varieties was 3.8t ha-1
. Based on the GGE biplot analysis different wheat growing
environments were grouped into three mega-environments. The first mega environment includes
Gechi 2022, the second mega environment includes Dedo 2022, Gechi 2021 and Yem 2021 and
third mega environment includes Yem 2022 and Dedo 2021 with the winner varieties of
Ogolocho, Daka and Danda’a respectively. Even though, the wheat variety ETBW9089 not
winner variety in the mega-environmnet, but showed consistent performance across locations.
Variety Danda’a and ETBW9089 can be recommended for wider cultivation due to better grain
yield and stability performance across the test environments in the highlands of southwestern
areas of Ethiopia.