ఆగ్రోటెక్నాలజీ

నైరూప్య

Participatory Variety Selection of Improved Sesame Varieties in Selected District of SNNPR, Ethiopia

Demelash Bassa*, Yasin Goa and Tadele Hirgo

Sesame is a major oil crop produced at different agro-ecologies of Ethiopia. However, an access of improved sesame variety is highly limited in country in general and southern Ethiopia in particular. The current experiment was conducted at two districts (Kucha and Humbo) to identify high yielding, early maturing, drought and diseases tolerant improved sesame varieties through participatory variety selection. Five improved sesame varieties with one local check were grown in randomized completed block design with four replications and farmers were considered as replication. The analysis of variance indicated presence of significant differences at (P≤0.05) among the evaluated sesame varieties for days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height and grain yield. Significant variability was observed among the tested sesame varieties for seed yield qt/ha, which was ranged from 5.59 to 8.95 qt/ha with the mean value of 8.04 qt/ha and coefficient of variation 14.5 %. The highest grain yield (8.95 qt/ha) was recorded for Abasena followed by setiti-1 (8.92qt/ha). But, low yield of 5.59 qt/ha was obtained from local variety (control). In other cases, farmers were allowed to evaluate the varieties using their own criteria. Accordingly, variety setiti-1, Humera and Abasena were selected by farmers due to their best performance. Thereby, these three improved sesame varieties are selected based on agronomic data result and farmers preference and recommended for production to the study areas and similar agro ecology [1].