Genotype-Environment Interaction and Stability Analysis of Hybrid Maize Varieties in North West Ethiopia

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the principal food crops in Amhara region of Ethiopia. A project on SIMLESA is aimed at increasing the range of maize varieties available for small holder farmers of Amhara region. In this study, eight improved maize hybrid varieties were evaluated across ten environments of Jabitehinan and South Achefer districts. Combined analysis of variance for grain yield across test environments indicated that the mean squares for environments, genotypes and genotype by environment interaction were highly significant and accounted for 66.73, 5.04 and 12.17% of treatment combination sum of squares, respectively. Based on the grain yield performance of the tested varieties, AMH-851(Jibat), BH-661 and PHB-3253 (Jabi) were identified as the three high yielding varieties across the testing environments. GGE biplot analysis identified that AMH-851 (Jibat) was the most stable and desirable hybrid followed by hybrids BH-661 and PHB-3253. Compared with other tested varieties, BHQPY-545 and PHB-3253 were selected as early maturing varieties with 156 and 149 days to maturity, respectively. Therefore, AMH-851 (Jibat) as a potential variety, BHQPY-545 and PHB-3253(Jabi) as early maturing varieties, are recommended for Jabitehinan and South Achefer districts.