Agronomic Performance and Bread Making Quality of Advanced Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Lines Grown in Eastern Oromia, Ethiopia

Twenty bread wheat lines selected on the basis of their average grain protein content and yield were evaluated for six agronomic and eight baking quality traits associated with bread-making quality. All the lines were grown in randomly complete block design at two locations in Eastern Oromia, Ethiopia; namely, Haramaya and Hirna in 2004/2005. Most of the quality traits had higher genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variability than yield at both locations. Grain protein content and yield related traits had low variabilities. Three bread wheat lines (RBC/HAR800, HAR3740 and Pavon76) superior with respect to bread making quality parameters and yielding ability of above and around the grand mean were identified. These lines could be useful as donor parents for bread making quality in bread wheat improvement programs of Ethiopia. In addition, three lines (MILAN/SHA7, 609/720 and MAMBA/HAR1384) having strong flour character but of which two lines had inconsistent yielding ability and one line yielding less than the general mean yield of the experiment; and five lines (Bobitcho, ETBW4311, ETBW4315, HAR3787 and Simba) of moderate to strong flour character with yielding ability above and around the grand mean were identified. Keywords : Agronomic Performance; Bread Making Quality; Bread Wheat; GCV; PCV East African Journal of Sciences Vol. 1 (1) 2007: pp. 25-34