Agrotechnology

Performance evaluation of finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn) varieties in dry land areas of northern Ethiopia

16^th International Conference on Agriculture & Horticulture

August 16-17, 2021 WEBINAR

Fantaye Belay*, Hintsa Meresa and Kibrom Fisseha

Abergelle Agricultural Research Center, (TARI) P. O. Box 44, Abi-Adi, Ethiopia

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Agrotechnology

Abstract:

Background and Objective: Shortage of widely adapted and high yielding variety is one of the major bottlenecks for production and productivity of Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) in dry lands of Kola Temben and Hawzen districts, Northern Ethiopia. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate and select early matured, high yielded and disease resistant finger millet varieties for the target areas. Materials and Methods: Six finger millet varieties were evaluated at farmers’ training center (FTC) under rainfed conditions during the 2019 cropping season using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were collected and analyzed variance for the traits’ days to maturity, plant height, grain yield and blast disease severity score. Results: The combined analysis of variance exhibited highly significant differences among the varieties for the traits studied. The highest grain yield, shortest days to maturity and lowest disease severity score (resistant to blast) were recorded from Mereb-1. Conclusion: The present finding provides, Mereb-1 is considered as high yielder, early matured and resistant to blast disease than the other varieties. Therefore, this variety could be recommended for the study areas and similar agro-ecologies in Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia.