Evaluation of Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Breeding Lines for Yield and Yield Related Characters in Horo Guduru Wollega Zone, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

A total of thirty-six bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding lines were evaluated for yield and yield related traits at high and midland environments of Horo Guduru Wollega Zone, western Ethiopia during 2013 cropping season. The genotypes were grown in a 6 x 6 simple lattice design. Data were collected for 12 morpho-agronomic characters. Since heterogeneity of variance test due to location was significant for most of traits, separate analyses for ANOVA, correlation and principal components were done. The differences between two means for significances were tested using SNK. The results of ANOVA showed that significant differences were observed among the breeding lines at both locations for DH, PH, SPL, SPS, BY, GY and TKW; while for DM and GFP at Gitilo and for HI at Guduru. At both locations, genotypes which showed superior performances compared to the standard checks 'Danada' and 'Kubsa' for biomass yield, grain yield, thousand kernel weight and harvest index include: ETBW7238, ETBW7235, ETBW7220, ETBW7191, ETBW7199, ETBW7182, ETBW7204, ETBW7258, ETBW7264, ETBW7247; and these genotypes are selected for multi adaptations. Principal components analysis showed that the first four PCs contributed about 81.06 % of the total phenotypic variation in the genotypes at Gitilo; while the f contributed about 77.01 % to the total phenotypic variations in the genotypes at Guduru. Analysis for traits association showed that at Gitilo, GY had strong and positive associations with SPL and BY, indicating that genotypes with long spike types. Similarly, at Guduru, GY was significantly and positively correlated with SPS, BY and HI. At both locations, traits which showed strong associations with GY could be used for indirect selection criteria during genotypes evaluation for better adaptabilities to the environment