Stability analyses of tef (Eragrostis tef [Zucc.] Trotter) grain yield in dryland areas of Northeast Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian cereal, tef, is a healthy food stuff for the people, and most preferred and palatable feed stuff for livestock. Evaluation of performance of genotypes at a number of locations provides useful information to determine their adaptation and stability. The objectives of the study were to estimate the magnitude of genotype-environment interaction (G × E), to determine its effects, and to identify stable tef genotypes. In the study, twelve genotypes of tef were evaluated in seven environments in the Northeast part of Ethiopia. The result showed that effects of genotype, environment and the G × E were significant and explained 5.08%, 82.67% and 12.25% of the treatment variance signifying that environment was the predominant contributor of the variation. The AMMI analysis showed that five of the IPCAs were significant. The first two, being very important, explained 66.04% and 20.35% of the G × E variance, respectively. The AMMI2 biplot showed that genotypes 202416A, 202382A and 205958 were not affected by environmental fluctuations as they had minimum interaction. The GGE analysis showed that 50.12% and 33.47% of the GGE variance were captured by the first and the second IPCAs, respectively. Based on the stability statistics considered, the genotypes 205953 and 202416A could be recommended as desirable (high yielding and stable) genotypes on the locations (environments) under study; both can be used as parents for future tef crossing programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]