Adaptation Testing of Durum Wheat (<i>Triticum turgidum</i> ssp. <i>durum</i>) Varieties Under Irrigated Areas of Upper and Middle Awash

Durum wheat is one of the industrial crops mainly required for the manufacturing of pasta products; macaroni, spaghetti and semolina. Improved durum wheat varieties suitable for irrigated lowland areas of Ethiopia including Afar and Oromia regions are limited. To overcome this constraint, the recently released 12 durum wheat varieties for rainfed conditions were evaluated across four different locations to confirm their environmental adaptation under irrigation during 2021. Grain yield and yield components, and environmental data were collected and analyzed using R-software. The combined analysis of variance indicated that the varieties differed significantly for all traits except for numbers of kernels per spike. There were highly significant differences among durum wheat varieties in their performances in yield and yield related traits across locations. D2018 (D2018), Toltu and Fetan varieties gave higher grain yield at Werer and Arage (middle Awash) while Denbi, Bullala and Werer1 at Jeju and Merti (upper Awash). Therefore, D2018 could be recommended for middle Awash while Denbi and Bullala for upper Awash areas for large scale cultivation.