Performance Evaluation of Food Barley (<i>Hordeum vulgare L.</i>) Varieties for Grain Yield and Other Agronomic Traits in Buno Bedele, South West Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

Barley is a major cereal crop in Ethiopia accounting for about 20% of the total cereal production. It is grown in a wide range of agro-climatic regions under several production systems. Barley grows best on well drained soils and can tolerate higher levels of soil salinity than most other crops. Although many improved food barley varieties have been released nationally and regionally, these varieties have not been tested in Buno Bedele and subsequently are not well popularized as well. In this Zone, farmers are growing local varieties which are low yielder and susceptible to diseases and other stresses. Hence recently released food barley varieties were tested for their phenotypic performance to confirm their environmental adaptation using Randomized Complete Block Design in three replications for two consecutive years (2020 to 2021) in Gechi and Chora districts. Quantitative traits such as plant height, spike length, Biomass, and grain yield were collected and analyzed using RStudio and Genstat 18^th edition software’s. Qualitative trait such as days to maturity and days to heading were also collected. The combined analysis of variance indicated that the eight tested varieties showed significant variations for all traits. The highest combined mean grain yield was recorded from variety “Adoshe” (5184 kg ha^-1) followed by “HB 1966” (4758 kg ha^-1).