Agromorphological Studies for Variability, Heritability and their Associations of Local Wheat Varieties (Triticum Spp.) Grown in South Gondar Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

Wheat is the most important cereal crop in Ethiopia ranking third in terms of area after teff and maize and second in terms of production after maize. Six local wheat varieties commonly cultivated in South Gondar, one of the eleven zones found in Amhara region, were collected from the local farmers to study their variability and associations of yield and yield related traits using twelve agro-morphological traits. The studied genotypes were grown in main rain season of 2014/15 at Farta district in a complete randomized block design with three replications. Analysis of variance indicated the presence of highly significant difference among the studied genotypes which revealed the presence of high genetic variability of wheat in the study area. Highest yield was recorded from the local variety Ferno with 1957 kg/ha followed by Chekole (1588.33kg) and Canada Sendie (1580.7kg). Higher value of GCV and PCV were recorded in most of the studied traits indicating selection may be effective from these traits and phenotypic expression would be good indication of the genotypic potential. Broad sense heritability estimates were very high for most traits signifying the possibility of success in selection. Correlation study revealed that number of tillers per plant, number of seeds per plant and harvest index had positive and highly significant correlation with grain yield. The present investigation will guide in planning future breeding strategy with desired traits to improve this crop in the study area.

Keywords: Local wheat varieties; agro-morphological traits; genetic variability; Heritability; Correlation