Research Article
Evaluation and Selection of Recently Released Hybrid Maize Varieties for Their Adaptability in West Hararghe Zone, Eastern Ethiopia
Gabisa Bekela*
,
Abubeker Terbush,
Desu Assegid
Issue:
Volume 13, Issue 5, October 2025
Pages:
180-192
Received:
12 July 2025
Accepted:
28 July 2025
Published:
8 September 2025
Abstract: Maize is the most frequently widely grown crop in the world; one of the major constraints affecting maize production and productivity is the inadequacy of widely adapted, high-yielding, disease- and insect-resistant varieties. The objective of this study was to select widely adapted, stable, high yielder and good agronomic traits hybrid maize varieties for the study area.. The study was conducted at Mechara, Boke, and Doba locations for two years, during 2022-2023 main cropping seasons. Seven-hybrid maize Varieties were examined in six environments under rain-fed conditions using the RCB Design with three replications. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant (p ≤ 0.001) variance due to varieties, environments, and GEI among all traits. days to silking, days to maturity, plant height, Ear height, Number of row per ear, ear length, hundred seed weight and grain yield were highly affected by environment, and varieties, while Days to silking, Number of Kernel per ear, hundred seed weight, Ear length and Grain Yield were mainly affected by GEI variations. AMMI analysis indicated significant genotype, environment and GEI effects; accounting for 6.8%, 47.7% and 8.6%, respectively, to the total variation. IPCA1 and IPCA2 accounted for 84.3% (63.2% and 21.1%) of the G + GE variation for grain yield of the varieties evaluated at six environments. Among testing sites, Three Varieties (BH549, Damote and DK-77) were superior and stable across test environments for grain yield and related traits. Overall, based on mean grain yield, AMMI and GGE biplot, BH549 was the most stable and high-yielding hybrid maize variety.. It can be concluded that this superior hybrid maize variety can be demonstrated and popularized, as well as being important for inclusion in further breeding programs since they may contribute favorable alleles in the synthesis of new varieties and make a great contribution to the food security of the target areas.
Abstract: Maize is the most frequently widely grown crop in the world; one of the major constraints affecting maize production and productivity is the inadequacy of widely adapted, high-yielding, disease- and insect-resistant varieties. The objective of this study was to select widely adapted, stable, high yielder and good agronomic traits hybrid maize varie...
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