Performance of Some Elite Spring Wheat Genotypes under Irrigation at Kirenowa, Borno State, Nigeria

Abstract

Field study was conducted in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 dry seasons at the Lake Chad Research Institute experimental site at Kirenowa in the Sudano sahelian zone of north east Nigeria to determine the performance of twenty elite spring wheat genotypes under irrigation conditions. Results showed significant differences in all the characters studied. Plant establishment was significantly higher in 2007/2008 than in 2008/2009. Entries 2, 14, 17, 18, 19 and 20 established better than the local check. The local check took significantly less number of days to attained 50% heading compared with improved genotypes. The results further revealed that the genotypes produced higher number of seeds per spike, heavier thousand grain weight and yield in 2007/2008 than in 2008/2009. Average over two years showed that twelve out of the twenty genotypes tested yielded over 3,000kg/ha than the local check. and are recommended for pre-release evaluations.

Keywords: Genotype, Elite Spring Wheat, Irrigation, Kirenowa, Nigera.