Performance Evaluation of Improved Maize (Zea Mays L.) Varieties at Debub Ari woreda of South Omo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

A field experiment involving seven improved and one local maize variety was carried out in Debub Ari District during the 2018 to 2020 main cropping seasons to identify the best-performing variety for the midland areas of the South Omo Zone. The midland maize varieties included in the field experiment were seven improved varieties (SBRH, SPRH, Gibe-2, Gibe-3, BH546, BH547, BH548) and a local check. Growth parameters and yield and yield components were recorded and analyzed. The analysis of variance results showed significant variations among the maize varieties for all the tested traits. The longest plant height (258.67 cm) was observed for the variety SBRH but is at par with all the other varieties except the shortest (203.5) for GIBE-2. The highest ear length (26.5 cm) obtained from the variety BH548, while the lowest (21.5 cm) was from the local check. The highest hundred seed weight (39.85g) was obtained from the variety BH547, whereas the SPRH variety with 32 (g) is the least. The highest grain yield (8428.2 kg ha-1) was recorded for the improved variety BH546 whereas, 6064 (kg ha-1) for the local check was the least. In this study, yield advantages of 28.05% and 19.21% were obtained from the improved maize varieties BH546 and BH547, respectively, performing way better than the local check. Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of improved maize varieties, such as BH546 or BH547, is recommended and could be suitable for midland maize production in the study area, although further testing is needed to support the recommendation.