Grain Yield Stability and Phenotypic Correlation Analysis of Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Genotypes in North Western Ethiopia

An experiment was conducted at Adet, Simada and Debretabor experimental sites of Adet Agricultural Research Center in 2014 and 2015 cropping season under rain-fed condition to study stability and traits correlation of bread wheat genotypes. Twelve bread wheat genotypes were used as experimental treatments. The genotypes were laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications per site. The results of AMMI analysis depicted significant differences among genotypes across environments (locations and years) (P≤ 0.001). According to the study, the performances of genotypes grain yield were highly affected by environments (locations and years) and the genetic composition of genotypes. The highest variation was accounted for by location (29 %) followed by genotype (18%) and location by year (18 %) and genotype by year (12%) effects. Based on AMMI, GGE biplot and stability coefficient analyses, G4, G2, G11 and G9 were wide adaptable and relatively stable genotypes all over the test environments (locations and years) than the checks, G7 (TAY) and G12 (Kubsa). Therefore, based on the adaptability and stability and overall mean grain yield of genotypes, recently released genotypes Gambo (G4), Ogolcho (G2) and Tsehay (G9) and relatively older genotypes Shorima(G11) and TAY (G7) could be recommended for production at test environments in the Western Amhara Region. However, there is a need to study the effect of environmental variation on the occurrence of rust disease. Keywords: AMMI, Correlation, GGE, Yield stabilit