Evaluating Agronomic Performance and Yield Stability of Improved Bread Wheat Varieties Across Low Moisture Stress Areas of Guji Zone, Southern Oromia

In Ethiopia, many low moisture stress tolerant bread wheat varieties that consistently have high yield in a variety of environments had been developed by different research centers. However, none of these cultivars are tested and selected for low moisture stressed areas of Guji Zone. As a result, the study was conducted at two mid land districts of Guji Zone (Adola and Wadera) at six testing sites (Dufa, Gobicha, Kiltu Sorsa, Chalo Sigida, Tulam and Andoya Haro) to evaluate the performance and yield stability of eight released low moisture stress tolerant bread wheat varieties in different low land areas of Guji Zone prior to varietal recommendation. Seven low moisture stress tolerant improved bread wheat varieties (Adel Werer, Amibara, Fantale, Gambo, Lucy, Mekele 01 and Mekele 02) were used as testing materials with local check (farmers variety. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated presence of highly significant differences at (P≤0.01) among the evaluated bread wheat varieties, the testing sites and GEI for most of the characters studied. Different parametric and non-parametric stability models were used to assess stability and yield performance of the evaluated varities across the testing environment. The highest grain yield (25.66qt/ha) was recorded for Mekele 02 followed by Mekele 01 (24.13qt/ha). But, low yield of 10.0qt/ha was obtained from local (control) variety. Therefore, based on the agronomic performance and yield stability analysis, variety Mekele 02 followed Mekele 01 were high yielding and comparably stable across the tested environments and then recommended for production to the study areas.