Abstract
The main objective of this study was to evaluate 21 durum wheat genotypes for grain yield and agronomic traits under rain fed condition in three districts of Axum Agricultural Research Center, namely Hatsebo, Tahtay-Maichew and Ahferom during 2014 cropping season. Completely randomized block design with three replications was conducted for each location. The result of analysis of variance indicated that there was a significant difference among the genotypes for all the traits except harvest index. Thus, considerable variation was recorded among durum wheat genotypes. However, the effect of location on grain yield was non-significant. Among the genotypes, the highest grain yield was obtained from genotype 34thIDONMD/134/off2011 (2.39 t ha-1) across all environments. High value of genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) was calculated for panicle length, biomass yield, grain yield and harvest index both at Hatsebo and Tahtay-Maichew. However, at Ahferom, medium GCV was observed for these traits, which might be due to terminal moisture stress during the cropping season. High genotypic coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance as percent of mean were found in panicle length, biomass yield, grain yield and harvest index at Hatsebo and Tahtay-Maichew. This indicated that these characters could be useful basis of selection. The association of grin yield was positive and significant with harvest index (0.67), days to maturity (0.25), days to heading (0.22) and biomass yield (0.2), however the association between biomass yield and harvest index was negative (-0.54). Key words: Durum wheat, genetic variation, heritability, quantitative traits.
Highlights
High genotypic coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance as percent of mean were found in panicle length, biomass yield, grain yield and harvest index at Hatsebo and Tahtay-Maichew
Durum wheat is the oldest traditional crop in Ethiopia covering significant proportion of arable land devoted to national wheat production
The effect of locations on the performance of the genotypes was non-significant with respect to grain yield
Summary
Durum wheat is the oldest traditional crop in Ethiopia covering significant proportion of arable land devoted to national wheat production. It is among the most diversified crop species in Ethiopia accounting for about 12% (more than 7000 accessions) of the national gene bank holdings. Negassa et al (2012) indicated that durum wheat covers about 20% of the total area under wheat production, and estimated to contribute between 18 to 20% to the national wheat production with average productivity of 1.8 t ha-1 (Teklu and Hammer, 2008).
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