PARTICIPATORY VARIETY SELECTION AND EFFECT OF LOCATION ON SEED QUALITY, YIELD AND RELATED TRAITS OF BREAD WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.) VARIETIES IN EAST HARARGHE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important cereal crop produced in eastern Ethiopia. Limited availability of farmers preferred varieties and the effect of location affect wheat production and productivity. The study was conducted with the objectives to generate information through farmer's variety selection and to assess the effect of location on seed quality, yield and yield related traits of bread wheat varieties during 2018/19 cropping season. The study consisted of field and laboratory experiments of which field experiment was conducted at Jarso, Meta and Kersa woredas in eastern Hararghe. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used for field experiment while completely randomized design with four replications was used for seed quality analysis conducted at Haramaya University Seed Science laboratory. The results from field experiment showed that days to flowering, days to maturity, height of plants, number of total and productive tillers, spike length, number of seeds per spike, thousand seed weight and seed yield were significantly influenced by locations and interaction of variety x location. Jaalanne variety produced highest grain yield at all locations and it had highest overall mean yield of 5321.76 kg ha-1. Wheat varieties overall mean yield was highest (5094 kg ha-1) at Kersa. Farmers of the three districts identified 10 traits for selecting good wheat varieties. Seed yield and disease resistance were proposed as very important selection criteria of bread wheat varieties. The overall direct and pairwise preference ranking based on the 10 traits showed that Jaalanne, Ogolcho, Kingbird varieties were preferred by the farmers at all location. The results of the analysis of variance indicated that all the seed quality parameters such as moisture content, germination percentage, speed of germination, seedling shoot and root length, seedling vigour index I and II were significantly influenced by variety, location and interaction of location x variety except location had nonsignificant effect on seedling shoot and root length. The selected varieties are recommended for multiplication and cultivation and to enhance the adoption rate of improved wheat varieties in the study areas