Adaptability evaluation and stability analysis of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) varieties in high altitude areas of southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The production and productivity of faba bean in Southern Ethiopia are low due to a shortage of improved varieties, agronomic practices, and diseases. An experiment was conducted in eight environments during the 2019 and 2020 main cropping seasons to investigate grain yield performance and identify stable, high-yielding varieties. Fourteen faba bean varieties including a control were grown in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis was used to estimate genotype by environment interaction and found to be significant (p<0.05) for the environment, varieties and variety by environment interaction. The two principal components (IPCA1 and IPCA2) explained 43.66% and 36.29% of the interaction, respectively. The varieties Tumsa, Dosha and Gora had good performance in mean grain yield over the tested environments with 2876.78, 2801.28 and 2775.48 kg ha-1. Ranking genotypes relative to the ideal genotype is done using the GGE biplot. The Dosha variety was found to be at the center of a concentric circle, with the average environment representing the ideal genotype (stable and high-yielding). Tumsa and Gora were the next most ideal genotypes, located near the ideal environments, indicating wider adaptation. Consequently, these varieties were identified and approved for large-scale production to improve production and productivity.