Participatory Bread Wheat Variety Selection at High Land of Guji Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract Many enhanced varieties of bread wheat have been evaluated for adaptation and are suggested for the Guji Zone’s high land agro-ecologies. Some of these kinds, however, were not being cultivated. This is due to the appearance of new rust races and breakdown of resistivity of the crop as highland of Guji is hotspot of wheat rusts. As a result, evaluating newly released wheat varieties by participating farmers to select according to the user’s desires. Consequently, a study was carried out in the 2020 cropping season at two highland districts of the Guji Zone (Bore and Ana Sora) in order to select and recommend improved bread wheat varieties through participatory variety selection that are high yielding, early maturing, and disease resistant. Treatments consisted of one local check and five improved bread wheat types. The treatments were set up in a randomized complete block design, with farmers serving as the replication for the baby’s trials and three replications for the mother trial. With the exception of days to number of tillers per plant, the agronomic data analysis result shows that there is significant variation across the tested varieties for the majority of the features examined. Varieties Sinja, Wane and Lemu were highest yielding and relatively resistant to diseases than the local check. Using their own standards, farmers participated in the variety selection process as well. As a result, farmers chose two varieties: Sinja and Wane. Similar results have been noted from the two methods of study. Thus, in order to draw conclusions from the study, it is necessary to take into account and respect the farmers’ choice rather than the trial’s results. Thus, Sinja and Wane were suggested for the researched areas and comparable agro-ecologies of Guji Zone based on both methods of finding variations. Keywords: Rust; Participatory; Variety; Selection