Genetic analysis and quality assessment of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) landraces in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia is rich in durum wheat diversity; however, national average productivity of durum wheat is low due to lack of strong national research program, and these calls for development of improved new varieties. Knowledge on extent of genetic variability and identification of important characters are a prerequisite for the development yielder and quality variety. Therefore, the present study was carried out to assess the extent of genetic variability and character association among yield and yield related traits in selected Ethiopian durum wheat landraces. Forty nine durum wheat accessions were studied for 20 traits at Sinana and Selka locations by using 7 × 7 simple lattice design in 2018/19. Combined analysis of variance revealed significant differences among accessions for all traits, indicating the presence of considerable variability among genotypes. A significant accession by locations interaction effect was observed which indicates differential performance of genotypes over environments. Protein content varied from 10.7%–16.7% with the overall mean of 13.5%. Also phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) ranged from 2.93 for hectoliter weight (HLW) to 27.08 for productive tillers (PTL) while, genotypic coefficients of variation (GCV) ranged from 0 for wet gluten (WGL) to 16.43 for vitreous (VTR). Low to high heritability was observed for the studied traits. Similarly, genetic advance as percent of mean varied from −0.20–31.24. High broad sense heritability and high genetic advance were obtained for grain yield (GY) (86.57 and 31.24) and vitreous (VTR) (75.76 and 29.39), respectively, indicating traits could be improved easily through selection. Overall, the present study revealed that there is sufficient variability existed in Ethiopian durum wheat landraces.

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Updating better yielding varieties and using recommended managements can improve productivity of the crops. Varieties should be evaluated under different environments and confirmed for their adaptation by National Variety Releasing Committee before disseminating to a large community, which is a usual practice that has been conducted in the research ethics. This is due to varying environment affecting crop adaptation. In this study, therefore, different accessions were evaluated and characters were identified for specific objective which will be used for crossing purpose for the improvement of durum wheat.

Keywords:

• Durum wheat
• genetic variability
• heritability
• genetic advance
• quality

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Manuel Tejada [email protected] Editor-in-Chief, Universidad de Sevilla, Cristalografía, Mineralogía y Química Agrícola, Seville Spain

SUBJECTS:

• Agriculture & environmental sciences
• botany
• food science & technology
• food additives & ingredients

Acknowledgements

First, my deepest and heartfelt gratitude goes to my major advisor, Bulti Tesso (PhD) and co-advisor Tesfaye Letta (PhD) for their guidance, assistance and support and encouragement throughout the entire period of this work. I would like to proudly thank the Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Sinana Agricultural Research Centre (SARC), Agricultural Growth Program II (AGP II) and Delivering Genetic Gains in Wheat project (DGGW) for sponsoring and facilitating of this work. Also I would like to express my appreciation for staff members of cereal research team of SARC for their encouragement, collaboration and support through research activities. Last but not least, I would like to thank Haramaya University for providing available services and facilities needed for my research work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mulatu Aberra Ebsa

Mulatu Aberra Ebsa is research staff of crop improvement specifically cereal research department at Sinana Agricultural Research Center of Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopia. He has undertaken applied research to enhance cereal crop productivity and production. Additionally, he has designed and conducted many experimental studies on field crops. He appreciates crop production under different agro-ecologies and encourages farmers to exploit the integrated potential of cultural practices to manage climate change and sustain productivity. He is involved in many national and international projects focusing on crop improvement along with different stakeholders