PARTICIPATORY AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF IMPROVED BREAD WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.)VARIETIES IN TWO DISTRICTS OF ARSI ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Bread wheat is one of the most important cereal crops of the world and staple food for about one third of the world’s population and is a major cereal crop in Ethiopia. One of the major challenges for improving food security is to develop varieties that are adapted to specific environment and farmers’ needs. The field trials were conducted at two locations, Hitosa (Sero-Anketo kebele) and Limu bilbilo (Bekoji-Negesso kebele) districts, in Arsi zone of Oromiya regional state, Ethiopia during 2015. The objectives were to identify farmers’ and traders’ preferences and selection criteria, high yielding, adaptable and acceptable varieties among the tasted twenty-five bread wheat varieties through farmers’ participation. The experiment was laid out in lattice design with three replications in which farmers participated only on one of the replication for ranking at each location. Farmers and traders identified top seven criteria that are the same at both locations (i.e. disease and insect resistance, grain yield, spike size, seed color, tillering capacity, market demand and seed size, except seed weight instead of seed size at Seru-Anketo) for rating of varieties from 1-5 scale (1=very poor and 5=excellent). Data analysis was done using SAS and Microsoft Excel. The ANOVA for individual locations showed significant (P ≤ 0.01) differences for tested traits except for DE. At Bekoji-Negesso, varieties Bulluk, Shorima, TAY, Gambo and Bika gave the highest yield of 7783, 7718, 7633, 7261 and 7109 kg ha-1, respectively. Kakaba matured (123 days) earlier whereas Digelu matured late (147 days). Mandoyu (87.9 cm) and YAY (112.2 cm) were the shortest and the tallest varieties. The highest and the lowest HI percentage were scored for Kakaba (40.7%) and Danda’a (31.7%). Similarly, at Sero-Anketo Mekelle-4, Danda’a, Ogolcho, TAY and Pavon-76 gave the highest yield of 5894, 5359, 5228, 5203 and 5150 kg ha-1, respectively. Kakaba matured (88.3 days) early whereas Digelu was the late (107 days). Mandoyu (64 cm) and Digelu (94.7 cm) were the shortest and the tallest varieties, respectively. The highest % of HI was scored on both Bika and Kingbird (44%) and the lowest was on Hoggana (26%). Correlation coefficient (r) revealed that GYLD have positive and significant relation with all collected agronomic traits but negative and significantly with grain protein and negatively and non-significantly with HI. All varieties showed R type of infection for the three rusts at Bekoji-Negesso: as all varieties scored <20 ACI. Similarly, at Sero-Anketo, Kakaba, Digelu and Jefferson ranged under MS to S whereas Gassay, Hiddasse, and Mekelle-02 ranged under MS and MR types of infection for SR, respectively. Grain protein was analyzed and Hoggana (14.27%) was found to be the highest. Based on measured traits (grain yield and rusts resistance) and farmers’ and traders preferences ranking; Bika, Bulluk and TAY for Bekoji-Negeso and Mekelle-4, Ogolcho and TAY for Sero-Anketo were recommended with their full production packages. Therefore, participation of farmers in early breeding program could be one of the approaches as to identify the best variety for specific location