Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most important cereal crop and second most important staple food after rice grown in 89 countries of temperate, sub-tropical and tropical climates. Ethiopia’s average annual yield is said to be 27.3 quintal per hectare while according to Food and Agriculture Organization global productivity is 36.2q/ha; consequently, the demand for bread wheat is increasing that leads to shortage of its production in the country, states the Principal Investigator, Prof. Abdul Qayyum Khan.
Wheat production in Ethiopia is less than the existing demand; therefore, to deal with the rising demand, Ethiopia reportedly annually imports 1.7 million tons that incurs $ 500 Million to the exchequer. So, it’s imperative to increase wheat production by expanding cultivation into non-traditional areas particularly in lowland irrigated areas. Consequently, this research was carried out to evaluate performance of wheat varieties at lowland irrigated conditions at Arba Minch at Amibara Farm by Prof. Khan, Dr Berhanu Lemma and Mr Amare Girma.
And having studied 27 bread wheat genotypes, they have identified 10 varieties i.e. Lucy, Fentale-I & II, Amibara-I & II, Daka, Ga’ambo, Werer-2, Alidoro and Ogolcha with earliest heading and physiological maturity, effective tillers, ear length, spikelet in the ear, grain weight and yield. Early maturing varieties like Hidase, Dashen, Dereselign and Biqa were next in grain yield under irrigated lowland in Arba Minch, he added.
He said adding that since the varieties were evaluated in one spring season from March to June 2020, hence, it’s recommended that these identified varieties may be further evaluated for their performance in another season or main season from November to March under lowland around Arba Minch. He reiterated that the reaction of wheat varieties to the leaf rust disease also needs to be probed by conducting separate experiments for identifying disease resistant wheat varieties.
Substantiating his point, he said, Ethiopia is among top 3 wheat producing nations in Africa, with wheat accounting for 20% of the nation’s total cereal production. More than 90% of Ethiopia’s wheat production is grown on small farms without irrigation, most of which are in the highlands. Ethiopia grows wheat above 1500 meter above sea level (m.a.s.l.) in mid and highland areas as rain-fed crop where irrigation contributes 1.1% of total cultivated land. In 2017-18, it said to have cultivated 46.429657 million tons on 1.696907 million hectares of land between an altitude of 1900 and 2700 m.a.s.l., he stressed
The study conducted at Werer Agricultural Research Centre further indicated that wheat yield of around 40 q/ha can be obtained in lowland irrigated areas, thus cultivation in irrigated lowland areas around lakes Abaya, Chamo, Omo River Valley and other 12 river basins with high temperature and different types of soils will enable Ethiopia to grow wheat and be self-sufficient in catering to the needs of its people.
He stressed that the minimum and maximum temperature, soil types and pH, relative humidity and incidence of leaf rust disease at the locations could impact the performance of varieties. Hence, varieties suitable for specific area adaptation and for wide adaptation could be selected by testing the performance over multiple location environments.
(Communication Affairs Directorate)