ABSTRACT
Field experiment was conducted at Fogera and Pawe research stations to evaluate the adaptability and performance of introduced commercial lowland rice varieties for variety registration. Farmers’ feedback was also collected to complement agronomic performance of the varieties in terms of selected traits; growth duration, plant height, panicle length, spikelets fertility and caryopsis color. Six varieties were replicated over three sites (one on station and two on farmers’ field) at each location with plot size of 10m x 10m per variety. The analysis of variance revealed very highly significant difference (p=0.001) for days to heading both at Fogera and Pawe but only at Fogera for days to maturity. Grain yield was significantly different (p=0.05) at Fogera but not at Pawe while the interaction was significant. All candidate and check varieties showed higher grain yield performance at Pawe than at Fogera. Variety ‘TANZANIA Tai’ (4929 kg/ha), followed by ‘KOMBOKA’ (4465 kg/ha) performed best in grain yield at Fogera while ‘KOMBOKA’ (5738 kg/ha) and ‘TXD 306’ (5168 kg/ha) at Pawe. Combined across two locations, ‘KOMBOKA’ (5101 kg/ha) ranked first in grain yield, followed by ‘TANZANIA Tai’ (5003 kg/ha). Farmers also ranked ‘KOMBOKA’ as their first choice at Pawe and ‘X-JIGNA’ (Check 2) at Fogera. Following grain yield performance, uniformity and farmers’ feedback, national variety release committee approved ‘KOMBOKA’ for registration as variety in Ethiopia. As a result, ‘KOMBOKA’ was registered by the name ‘Fogera 2’ for cultivation in Pawe and other areas which are characterized by high temperature and sufficient rain fall with fair distribution of high relative humidity. The variety was also recommended for cultivation by private rice growers in the low elevation areas of Ethiopia such as Gambella and South Nations Nationalities and Peoples regions.
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