Evaluation of commercial maize varieties in northwestern Ethiopia
2001
Alamnie Atnaw(Adet Research Center, Adet (Ethiopia)) | Tadese Desalegne(Adet Research Center, Adet (Ethiopia) Advisor) | Yigzaw Desalegne(Adet Research Center, Adet (Ethiopia))
Maize is one of the most important crops in northwest Ethiopia (Gojam and Gonder). The contribution of northwest Ethiopia to the nation and to the Amhara Regional state in maize production is 18% and 88%, respectively. Due to its high yielding potential, the area and production of maize is steadily increasing from year to year. But, the average yield of maize remained very low, 13.5 a/ha. The use of low yielding local cultivars is one of the major constraints. Generally, growing maize hybrids or improved open pollinated varieties (OPV) is not a common practice in the region. A trial was conducted for two years at five locations to test the adaptability of some hybrids and open pollinated varieties. The trial was laid out in RCBD with four replications. Highly significant grain yield differences were observed among locations and varieties. The local check out yielded all the other test entries except Guto LMS. Hybrid BH-660 and HB540 the best BH-540 followed by Kuleni in grain yield. Stability parameters were considered to determine the genotype by environment interaction. Some important agronomic parameters other than grain yield were also considered to select suitable varieties for the region. According, the three superior varieties (BH-660m BH-540 and Kuleni) showed relatively good performances. It can be concluded that introducing all three varieties will help the region to boost its maize production and productivity. The research on different maturity groups of maize has to be strengthened to identify/develop varieties suitable for different agroecologies of the region.
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