International Journal of Plant Breeding and Crop Science Vol. 7(3), pp. 894-899, October, 2020. © www.premierpublishers.org, ISSN: 2167-0449 Research Article YIELD PERFORMANCE and ADAPTATION of KABULI CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.) VARIETIES at WESTERN HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA. 1Genet Mengistu*, 1Asnake Fikre, 1Asefa Funga, 1Niguse Girma, 1Lijalem Korbu, 1Redwan Mohamed, 1Fasil Hailu, 1Amin Fedlu, 1Dagnachewu Bekele, 2Abdulfeta Tariku 1DebreZeit Agricultural Research Center, P.O.Box: 32, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia, Agricultural Research Center, P.O.Box: 190 Chiro. Corresponding Author E-mail: genetmengistu425@gmail.com 2Chiro A field experiment was conducted under rain fed condition at Chiro agricultural research center and Arberekete research station during the year of 2019 main cropping season to evaluate the yield performance and adaptability among released Kabuli chickpea varieties for the target area. The varieties were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The environment by variety interaction analysis showed highly significant difference for the varieties, implying that there is best fit cultivar independently for each location. Accordingly, the highest grain yield at Arberekete was revealed by shasho, Habru, Chefe and Kasech consecutively; while at Chiro; Yelibe, Habru, Ejere and Kasech demonstrated top four yield scores. Therefore, Shasho, Habru, Chefe and Kasech varieties were adapted for Arberekete and similar agroecological zones of the western Hararge; Yelibe, Habru, Ejere and Kasech varieties were adapted and promoted for Chiro and similar agro-ecological zones of the western Hararghe zone. Keywords: Adaptation, Grain yield, Kabuli chickpea, Rain fed, Varieties INTRODUCTION Cultivated chickpea, is a self-pollinated, diploid (2n= 2x =16) annual pulse crop with a relatively small genome size of 738Mb (Varshney et al., 2013). It belongs to Family, Fabaceae Genus, Cicer and Species, C. arietinum. The crop is herbaceous, a small bush with diffused spreading branches from the base, which reach a height of 20 – 150 cm depending on cultivar and suitability of the growing environment. According to Rman et al. (2013), the crop has an indeterminate growth habit which continues to produce vegetative growth whenever soil moisture, temperature and other environmental factors are favorable. Chickpea breeding in Ethiopia was started in the 1970s with the prime objectives of improving seed yield, seed size and resistance to important diseases, particularly fusarium wilt and aschocyta blight. From the breeding efforts in Ethiopia, a number of improved Kabuli chickpea varieties have been developed and released for production under different recommendation domains, including the mid and high altitude agro-ecologies. An assessment of the producer’s demand shows that they are opting more for Kabuli chickpeas (Tebikewu et al., 2009) to Desi. The Kabuli chickpea had negligible share two decades ago, but now is estimated to occupy above one-third of the total area and this trend of area coverage increment is expected to continue. Kabuli chickpea area may outsmart the Desi type in the future (Asnake, 2014). The market values, taste, seed size, resistance to ascochyta blight, and productivity all make this type (Kabuli) getting momentum (Shiferaw and Teklewold, 2007). International markets favor the Kabuli types and offer higher prices for them (Shiferaw et al., 2007). This has attracted attention in Ethiopia, and steps have been taken to increase Kabuli production and export (Abera, YIELD PERFORMANCE and ADAPTATION of KABULI CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.) VARIETIES at WESTERN HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA. Genet et al., 895 2010). The improved varieties have a high yield potential of four to five folds of the local cultivars. These varieties do not only excel the local varieties by their yield potential but also have larger seed size (Legesse et al., 2005a). Chickpea is widely grown in different agro-ecological zones falling between 1400 to 2300m above sea level where the mean annual rainfall ranges from 700 to 2000mm (Geletu and Million, 1996). Even though the fact that Ethiopia’s agro-climatic conditions are suitable to chickpea production (Simone et al., 2019) , the potential of chickpea crop is not exploited and highly limited in this part of the zone due to lack of improved varieties, poor management practices, biotic factors and abiotic factors. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the yield performance, adaptability among released Kabuli chickpea varieties for the target area, so that further scaling up pathway follows as stated (Asnake et al., 2011a). MATERIAL AND METHODS A field experiment was conducted under the rainfed condition at Chiro agricultural research center and Arberekete research station during the year of 2019 main cropping season. Arberekete is located at the latitude of 09 o06’ N, the longitude of 40o 91’E and an altitude of 2247 m.a.s.l. The area is characterized by annual minimum and maximum temperatures of 12 and 23 oc, respectively and receives 1150mm annual rainfall. The soil type of the center is classified as black vertisol (Gosa, 2016). Chiro research station is located at 09°05’N latitude and 40°88’ E longitude at an altitude of 1856 m.a.s.l. The area has a minimum and maximum annual temperatures of 12 and 23°C, respectively and receives 950 mm annual rainfall. The soil type of the experimental station is classified as black vertisol (Gosa, 2016). The experiment consisted of fourteen Kabuli chickpea varieties (Table 1). The experiment was planted at midAugust in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The experimental plot size of 4 rows each 4m long and 1.2m wide (4.8m 2) with the spacing of 30cm between rows, 10cm between plants and 1m between blocks was used. No fertilizer was applied while recommended weeding practices were done throughout the growing season. Data were recorded on: days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, number of pods per plant, hundred seed weight and grain yield per hectare. Table 1: List of Kabuli Chickpea Varieties Used in the Experiment No Variety Pedigree Source 1 DZ-10-4 Local collection Ethiopia 2 Arerti X87TH186/ICC14198XFLIP82-150C ICARDA Released by DZARC DZARC 3 Shasho ICCC33X(L144XE1004Y(M) ICRISAT DZARC 4 5 Chefe Habru (ICCV2XSURUTATO77)ICC-7344 X85TH230/ILC3395XFLIP 83-13C) ICRISAT ICARDA DZARC DZARC 6 Ejerie X94TH71/FLIP87-59CX4C-15 ICARDA DZARC 7 8 9 Teji Yelibie AcosDubie X94TH75/FLIP87-58CX4C-15 ICC-14808 ICC 13XANNIGERI ICARDA ICRISAT Mexico DZARC SARC DZARC 10 11 12 13 Kasech Akuri Kobo Hora SARC SARC SARC DZARC 14 Dhera FLIP 95-31C ICRISAT ICC-03402 ICRISAT ICCV-01308 ICRISAT X2000TH50/FLIP98-52C X FLIP 98- ICARDA 12C X98TH30/FLIP-93-55CXS96231 ICARDA DZARC Unique Trait Tolerant to Ascochyta blight and Root Rot/wilt Tolerant to Ascochyta blight and root rot wilt Tolerant to Ascochyta blight Tolerant to Ascochyta blight and Earliness Tolerant to Ascochyta blight, earliness Tolerant to Ascochyta blight Extra big seed size, best niche market Drought stress agro-ecology Drought stress agro-ecology Drought stress agro-ecology Tolerant to ascochyta blight Tolerant to ascochyta blight and suitable to mechanical harvest YIELD PERFORMANCE and ADAPTATION of KABULI CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.) VARIETIES at WESTERN HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA. Int. J. Plant Breed. Crop Sci. 896 Statistical Analysis RESULT AND DISCUSSION All measured parameters were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using PROC GLM of SAS software version 9.0 to assess the difference among the tested varieties. Mean separation was carried out using the Least Significant Difference (LSD) Test. Grain Yield Performance of Kabuli Chickpea Varieties The results of the separate analysis of variance for the two individual locations for grain yield (kg ha-1) showed a highly significant difference among varieties (Table 2). Table 2: Mean squares from a separate analysis of variance for grain yield and other traits of Kabuli chickpea at two locations. Traits Mean squares (MS) at each location Arberekete Chiro Variety Error Variety Error DF 13.79* 4.84 15.05** 1.97 DM 19.47 ** 3.29 15.48** 1.28 PTH 238.91** 48.52 65.66* 23.34 NPPP 5941.77** 582.18 1519.16** 98.89 HSW 144.11** 10.64 51.93** 4.51 GY 347529.75** 108290.00 366822.53** 93943.71 **, *, ns= Significant at P < 0.01, significant at P < 0.05 and non-significant respectively €= DF= days to flowering, DM=days to physiological maturity, PTH= plant height (cm), NPPP= number of pods per plant, HSW= hundred seed weight (g) and GY= grain yield (Kg ha-1). Table 3: Mean squares from combined analysis of variance for yield and other traits of Kabuli chickpea evaluated over two locations in 2019 Cropping Season Trait€ Location(1) ¥ Variety(13) Location x Error(52) Mean CV R2 Variety(13) DF 13.76ns 27.28** 1.56** 3.40 71.02 2.60 0.71 ns DM 8.68 43.69** 1.04ns 3.62 179.87 1.06 0.77 PTH 28.58ns 180.14** 124.43** 35.9 80.27 7.47 0.69 NPPP 64574.3** 5693.68** 1767.26* 722.86 167.18 16.08 0.81 HSW 188.70** 131.04** 64.999** 7.58 29.85 9.2 0.88 GY 265646.27ns 436870.62** 277481.65** 101116.85 967.96 32.85 0.66 ¥= Numbers in parenthesis represent degrees of freedom €=Abbreviations of traits, refer to Table 2. The mean grain yield ranged from 440.3 kg ha-1 for the variety Hora to 1429.9 kg ha-1 for the variety Shasho and 358.1 for the variety Arerti to1674.1 kg ha-1 for the variety Yelibe at Arberekete and Chiro, respectively (Table 4). The recently released variety, Hora was not showed good performance for grain yield at both locations. Variety Habru, Chefe and Kasech recorded the second, third and fourth highest grain yield respectively at Arberekete; and Habru, Ejere and Kasech, recorded the second, third and fourth highest grain yield at Chiro station respectively (Table 4). The environment by variety interaction analysis showed a highly significant difference for the varieties (Table 3), implying that there is best-fit cultivar independently for each location. Accordingly, the highest grain yield at Arberekete was revealed by Shasho, Habru, Chefe and Kasech consecutively; while at Chiro; Yelibe, Habru, Ejere and Kasech, demonstrated top four yield scores. Yasin (2014) reported Arerti and Habru out yielding other varieties which were also ranked by farmers and researchers as the most preferred varieties’.Deresa et al. (2018) also reported Dalota and Habru, which had comparably highest yields to be adopted for cultivation in three districts of Guji Zone of Southern Oromia. Therefore, the result indicates that independent selection must be made in promoting the cultivars based on its performances. YIELD PERFORMANCE and ADAPTATION of KABULI CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.) VARIETIES at WESTERN HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA. Genet et al., 897 Table 4: Mean grain yield in (kg ha-1) of Kabuli chickpea varieties adaptation trial at individual locations during cropping season of 2019 Variety Arberekete Chiro Mean DZ-10-4 568.3e 760.7cde 664.5 Arerti 1122.4a-d 358.1e 740.2 Shasho 1429.9a 1137.3abc 1283.6 Chefe 1354.0ab 1157.6abc 1255.8 Habru 1392.1ab 1390.7ab 1391.4 Ejerie 865.4bcde 1336.1abc 1100.8 Teji 706.3cde 1095.3a-d 900.8 Yelibie 600.9de 1674.1a 1137.5 Acosdubie 861.1bcde 756.0cde 808.6 Kasech 1242.5abc 1227.2abc 1234.9 Akuri 785.6cde 820.2b-e 802.9 Kobo 516.0e 1022.1bcd 769.0 Hora 440.3e 543.9de 492.1 Dhera 879.4a-e 1059.5bcd 969.5 Grand mean 911.72 1024.20 967.96 Cv 36.09 29.93 Lsd 552.3 514.41 Means followed by the same letter within a column are not significantly different from each other Date of Flowering: Days to flowering ranged from 67.00 (Habru) to 74.00 days (DZ-10-4) and 68.00 days (Habru) to 76.00 (DZ-10-4) days for Arberekete and Chiro location respectively (Table 5). Variety DZ-10-4 took the longest days to flower at Arberekete and Chiro station, whereas Variety Habru scored early flowering at both located in the study area (Table 5). Teji scored the second early flowering variety at Arberekete whereas Chefe scored the second early flowering variety at Chiro location. Date of Maturity: Variety DZ-10-4 took the longest days to mature (185.00, 187.00) days whereas Variety Habru scored early maturing (175.3, 175.3) days for Arberekete and Chiro location, respectively (Table 5). Likewise, Yasin (2014) reported variety Habru recorded early maturing at Bobicho and Jewi station of southern Ethiopia. In contrast, he reported Variety Arerti took the longest days to mature at Bobicho as well as at Jewi. Teji scored the second early maturing variety at Arberekete and Chiro location (Table 5). Plant Height: it ranged from 71cm (Chefe) to 96cm (kobo) and 69.66cm (Kasech) to 89.33(Arerti) for Arberekete and Chiro location, respectively (Table 5). The tallest plant height was observed in the variety ‘kobo’ (96 cm) and ‘Arerti’ at Arberekete and Chiro location, respectively. These results are further supported by Ines C. Gonzales and Fernando R. Gonzales (2014) who reported considerable variation in the plant height of different chickpea varieties when planted under various environments. Number of Pod per Plant: The highest number of pod per plant was recorded for the variety DZ-10-4(272.3) at Arberekete and variety Teji (171.33) followed by DZ-10-4 at Chiro (Table 5). Variety Acos dubie scored the lowest number of pod per plant at Arberekete and Chiro location. In contrast to this study, Yasin (2014) reported the number of pod per plant was highest (81.75; 77) in variety Arerti, followed by varieties Habru and Chefe with an average number of pod per plant of (76.25; 69.5) cm and (65.75; 65) at Bobicho and Jewi, respectively. Hundred Seed Weight: Variety Kasech (38.56gm) was scored the most significant hundred seed weight, followed by Chefe and Variety Acos dubie (19.4) scored the smallest hundred seed weight at Arberekete. At Chiro location, variety Dhera (33.93) scored the biggest hundred seed weight, followed by Habru (33.6) and variety DZ-10-4(20.26) scored the smallest hundred seed weight (Table 5). YIELD PERFORMANCE and ADAPTATION of KABULI CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.) VARIETIES at WESTERN HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA. Int. J. Plant Breed. Crop Sci. 898 Table 5: Mean values of different traits individual locations for Kabuli chickpea varieties in the potential yield trials Chickpea varieties DF DM NPPP PTH Arberekete location DZ-10-4 74.0a 185.0a 272.3a 71.33d Arerti 70.0b-e 180.33b 189.67c-f 87.00ab Shasho 73.33ab 181.33b 204.0bcd 86.66abc Chefe 68.67cde 178.3bcd 214.33bc 71.00d Habru 67.0e 175.3d 198.67b-e 78.00bcd Ejerie 70.67a-e 179.66b 230.0bc 75.00cd Teji 67.67de 175.66d 232.67ab 75.00cd Yelibie 70.67a-e 180.0b 209.3bcd 76.33bcd Acos dubie 73.0ab 181.33b 84.33g 76.00bcd Kasech 70.33a-e 180.67b 169.0def 71.00d Akuri 72.33abc 180.3b 202.33bcd 94.00a Kobo 71.33a-d 180.33b 161.33ef 96.0a Hora 71.33a-d 179.0bc 211.0bc 81.33bcd Dhera 68.33de 176.3cd 149.67f 93.33a Grand Mean 70.62 179.55 194.9 80.85 Cv 3.11 1.01 12.38 8.62 Lsd (%) 3.69 3.045 40.495 11.69 Chiro location DZ-10-4 76.0a 187.00a 168.00ab 85.33ab Arerti 70.66c-f 181.0bcd 131.0ef 89.33a Shasho 73.0bc 181.33bcd 154.0bcd 78.33bc Chefe 68.33fg 178.33def 126.67ef 81.33abc Habru 68.00g 175.3f 132.0ef 76.66bc Ejerie 72.33bcd 182.0bc 116.67f 82.66abc Teji 70.33d-g 176.0ef 171.33a 76.00dc Yelibie 70.33d-g 180.0bcd 140.33cde 78.66bc Acos dubie 74.33ab 182.67b 82.67g 78.33dc Kasech 72.0bcd 181.0bcd 137.67de 69.66d Akuri 72.00bcd 180.3bcd 156.00abc 80.0bc Kobo 72.66bcd 180.67bcd 154.33bcd 83.00abc Hora 71.00bcd 179.0cde 142.0bcd 79.66bc Dhera 69.00efg 178.0def 139.67cde 76.66dc Grand Mean 71.43 180.19 139.45 79.69 Cv 1.97 1.10 7.13 6.06 Lsd (%) 2.36 3.34 16.69 8.11 Means followed by the same letter within a column are not significantly different from each other €=Abbreviations of traits, refer to Table 2 CONCLUSION Fourteen Kabuli chickpea varieties were tested for yield performance and adaptation at western Hararghe zone. The environment by variety interaction analysis showed a significant difference among the varieties for grain yield and all of the studied traits except date of maturity, implying that there is best-fit cultivar independently for each location. Accordingly, the highest grain yield at Arberekete was revealed by Shasho, Habru, Chefe and Kasech consecutively; while at Chiro; Yelibe, Habru, Ejere and Kasech, demonstrated top four yield scores. HSW 13.56f 31.47cd 32.73bcd 38.067ab 34.53a-d 32.13cd 29.97d 35.43a-d 19.4e 38.56a 32.70bcd 33.73a-d 36.60abc 29.97d 31.35 10.41 5.475 20.26e 20.50e 31.43abc 26.83d 33.60a 26.10d 31.9ab 31.07abc 28.67bcd 28.83bcd 28.30cd 28.33cd 27.06d 33.93a 28.35 7.49 3.56 From this study, it was observed that each of the tested variety showed different performance for different characters. Grain yield is an important character to be considered for variety selection to address the objective of the conducted activity. Therefore, Shasho, Habru, Chefe and Kasech varieties were adapted for Arberekete and; Yelibe, Habru, Ejere and Kasech varieties were adapted and promoted for Chiro and similar agro-ecological zones of the western Hararghe zone. YIELD PERFORMANCE and ADAPTATION of KABULI CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.) VARIETIES at WESTERN HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA. Genet et al., 899 REFERENCE Abera, H. (2010). Chickpea production, supply, demand and marketing issues in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Ethiopia Commodity Exchange Authority. Asnake F. Woldemedhin (2016c). Progress of chickpea research and development in Ethiopia. In Lijalem Korbu, Tebikew Damite and Asnake Fikre (eds). Harnessing Chickpea Value Chain for Nutrition Security and Commercialization of Smallholder Agriculture in Africa. Jan 30-2 Feb, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. Asnake Fikre, Million Eshete, Ganga Rao and Said Silim (2014). 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YIELD PERFORMANCE and ADAPTATION of KABULI CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.) VARIETIES at WESTERN HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA.