Abstract:
The yield performance of sorghum cultivars is highly influenced by environmental factors and
genotype x environment interaction; therefore interaction is the major concern to plant breeders to
develop improved cultivars. Field experiment was conducted to evaluate striga resistant sorghum
genotypes during the 2014 cropping season at Fedis,Meiso, Kobo,Pawi and Humera. The materials
used in the study consisted of eight striga resistant sorghum genotypes representing the types widely
grown in lowland areas. The treatments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design
(RCBD) and replicated three times. Data were collected on sorghum traits in accordance with the
procedure outlined in the IBPGR/ICRISAT sorghum descriptor.The objectives of this study were to
estimate the magnitude of genotype x environment interaction (G x E) for grain yield and yield
attributes and determine yield stability of striga resistant sorghum varieties in low land areas of
Ethiopia. The individual location analyses of variance showed that genotypic mean square were
significant only at Meiso and highly significant at Kobo for grain yield. The combined analysis of
variance test showed that environment, genotype, and genotype x environment sum squares
contributed 5.96%, (41.47%) and (41.81%) for grain yield respectively. The combined analysis of
variance revealed significant variation among entries for most of the traits considered. From twelve
characters the environment effect was highly significant for days to flowering and stand count at
harvest and significant for days to maturity and thousand seed weight. Grain yield was positively
and significantly correlated with panicle weight and panicle exertion. Based on the mean
performance Abishir,Gobye and Birhan gave higher mean grain yield of 2.85, 2.82 and 2.69 ton ha-
1 respectively and the lowest yield was obtained from N-13 and SRN-39 2.28 and 2.27 ton /ha
respectively. Generally, this study showed the importance of testing striga resistant sorghum
genotypes for their yield and stability across diverse lowland areas of Ethiopia
