Grain Yield Stability Analysis of Lentil Genotypes by AMMI Indices

Background: Due to the presence of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in its roots, the lentil plant causes biological nitrogen fixation, and in addition to meeting the plant's need for this substance, they also add some pure nitrogen to the soil each year.Therefore, it has made the soil fertile, especially in dry areas, and in this sense, it is considered a suitable rotation for rainfed cereals.Lentils are a significant source of food proteins, minerals (potassium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc), carbohydrates, and vitamins in human nutrition and have high health benefits due to their low fat content and glycemic index.The low yield of lentil genotypes is caused by various factors, including poor soil fertility, lack of high-yielding improved cultivars, severe moisture stress, diseases, pests, weeds, and inadequate crop management skills.In recent years, global climate change, especially due to rainfall and environmental changes, has significantly impacted lentil production.In Iran, lentils are usually cultivated in spring under rainfed conditions while autumn cultivation increases grain yield due to increasing rainfall efficiency compared to spring cultivation under rainfed conditions.In addition, to maximize yield and control phenotypic expression, breeders must select specific genotypes that are stable or adapted to a specific environment.Therefore, the identification of high-yield genotypes with adaptation to a wide range of environments is one of the major goals in crop breeding programs.In multi-environment experiments, lentil yield is influenced by the genetic structure, environment, and genotype environment interaction.To better interpret the genotype environment interaction, the additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model is one of the most common methods in the study of multi-environment experiments.The current study aimed to investigate the genotype environment interaction effect on lentil genotypes and to identify stable, high-yielding genotypes compatible with the climatic conditions of temperate rainfed regions in Iran.Methods: In this study, 12 promising lentil genotypes along with "local", "Kimia", and "Gachsaran" cultivars were cultivated in a randomized complete block design for three consecutive cropping years (2019-2022) in Lorestan/Khoramabad, Ilam/Chardavel, and Kermanshah/Sararood.In the field, each plot consisted of 4 m planting rows with a distance of 25 cm and a density of 200 seeds per square meter.Stability analysis was performed using the AMMI multivariate method.Statistical analyses were performed using Metan and GGE packages of multi-environment experiments in R software. Results:The AMMI analysis of variance showed the significant effects of the environment, genotype, the genotype environment, and the first seven main components.Therefore, the significance of genotype environment interaction allows for the stability analysis of these data.According to AMMI analysis, the first and second main components of the genotype-environment interaction accounted for 45.6 and 19% of genotype environment interaction variations, respectively.The effect of the first seven main components was significant and in total explained 99.5% of the variations of genotype environment interaction.The shares of the environment, genotype, and interaction of genotype environment in the sum of total squares were 54.56, 5.45,