Abstract

This experiment was carried out using twelve linseed varieties namely;(Bekoji-14, Kassa-2, Welen, Bekoji, Kuma, Yadano, Furtu, Bakalcha, Dibane, Horesoba, Jitu and local check) were sown in RCBD with three replications during the 2022 and 2023 main cropping season with the objective, to evaluate the performance of improved linseed varieties and their genetic variability for seed yield and related traits in to study areas. All important data were collected and analyzed by using R-software accordingly. Combined analysis of data from the three locations revealed that there is significant difference among varieties for days to flowering, days to maturity and grain yield, but non-significant for plant height (cm), number of primary branches per plant and number of capsules per plant. Significant effect of location was observed in plant height, number of primary branch per plant, number of capsule per plant and grain yield however non-significant in days to flowering and days to maturity. The interaction of Variety X location was significant for days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height and grain yield, however non-significant for number of primary branch per plant and number of capsule per plant. The maximum seed yield was recorded in variety Kuma (1588.9 kgha-1) followed by Beokoji-14 (1476.7 kgha-1) and the lowest yield (978.9 kgha-1) was obtained from local check. The combined AMMI analysis for seed yield across environments revealed significantly affected by environments that hold 26.6% of the total variation. The genotype and genotype by environmental interaction were significant and accounted for 12.40% and 19.42% respectively. Principal component 1 and 2 accounted for 10.78 % and 6.13% of the GEI respectively with a total of 16.91% variation. Therefore, Kuma and Bekoji-14 varieties were identified as the best varieties for yielding ability, stability and recommended in the area and with similar agro-ecologies.