Registration of “Ikhulule’’ Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana (<I>L</I>.) Gaertn) Variety

Although finger millet is grown extensively in Ethiopia, the national average yield is much less than the crop's genetic potential. This is due to a lack of stable, high-yielding, and disease-tolerant finger millet varieties. Thus, the current study was conducted to find stable, high-yielding, and disease-tolerant genotypes for increasing production. A randomized complete block design was used to evaluate twelve finger millet genotypes under a regional variety trial at Mechara and Habro for three consecutive years (2017 to 2019) against standard checks (Maba, Addis01, and Axum). The tested genotypes were brought from the Melkasa Agricultural Research Center. Further, some of these genotypes were collected from different areas of Oromia and the remaining were introduced from Kenya including Ikulule through Melkasa Agricultural Research Center. At the multi-environment evaluation, the yield advantage of the new variety is 18% higher than the best-performed standard check Maba (5.8tha<sup>-1</sup>). Additionally, the GGE biplot analysis showed that the Ikulule variety is high-yielding across locations and years. Also at the variety verification trial, the overall mean grain yield of (Ikulule) at on station and farmers' fields is 3.81 t tha<sup>-1</sup> whereas the standard check kumusa is 2.91 tha<sup>-1</sup>. The new variety is not only high-yield but also resistant to blast rust and shoot flies relative to standard check. As a result, this new variety of Ikulule was released for the west Hararghe zone districts and similar agroecologies.