Performance of bread wheat genotypes under different environment in lowland irrigated areas of Afar Region, Ethiopia

Wheat is an important staple food for Ethiopian people, and its straw has been used as sources of feed for animals. Nine wheat genotypes introduced from International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) were evaluated at Werer Agricultural Research Center from 2010/2011 to 2013/2014, at Gewane from 2011/2012 to 2012/2013 and at Waidulale in 2013/2014 cropping seasons using randomized complete block design (RCBD) in three replications with the objective of identifying wide adaptable and high yielding bread wheat varieties. The combined analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the effects of year (Y) and locations (L) were highly significant for all parameters studied. The combined ANOVA of grain yield (GY) revealed highly significant (P<0.01) G x Y interactions effects for almost all traits. The environment (E) effect accounted for 67.8% of total sum of squares (TSS) followed by the Genotype by Environment Interaction (GEI), which accounted for 8.2% and G (3.6%). The highest yielding genotypes selected from the National Variety trial (NVT) were Moontiji-3 (3488 kg/ha), Doukkala-4 (3258 kg/ha) and Saamid-3 (3158.00 kg/ha) with the maturity date of 82.2, 89.5 and 84.2 days, respectively. Generally, the yields of the three candidate varieties were higher and stable over years and across locations.     Key words: Genetic variability, genotype x environment interaction, yield and yield stability.