Abstract

Ethiopia has a suitable edaphic condition for garlic production. The crop has a paramount importance for seasoning in many foods and is also thought to have a medicinal value. Production and productivity of garlic in Ethiopia is affected by various biotic and abiotic bottlenecks such as lack of high yielding varieties, non-availability of quality seeds, and prevalence of various diseases. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate and verify the most stable, high yielding and disease tolerant garlic accession for the highlands of North Shewa. Thirteen promising accessions were selected for regional variety trial (RVT) from the regional collection made from North Shewa and North Gondar Zones in Amhara National Regional State. The regional variety trial was conducted in RCBD with three replications for three years and two locations. The study revealed that NG0048/04 accession had outstanding yield performance in almost all test environments, out yielded both the standard “kuriftu” and local check varieties. Moreover, based on AMMI 1, AMMI 2 and AMMI stability analysis the bulb yield of NG0048/04 accession was found more stable as compared to the other accessions and the standard check variety “Kuriftu”. Hence, this accession was approved and released by the National variety releasing committee with the varietal name of “Qundi” for cultivation in the mid and high-altitude areas of Ethiopia.