Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Variety Development, Release and Registration for Rainfed Areas of Ethiopia

A strong variety development is the backbone of a well-established national seed program and identification of high-yielding genotypes with wide adaptation and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses remain the top priorities of the wheat breeding programs. Over the years of research on bread wheat, commendable achievements have been made in the generation of technologies and information useful for boosting the productivity and production of wheat in Ethiopia. Five improved bread wheat varieties; Deka, Balcha, Boru, Dursa, Shaki, Biftu and kulumsa were developed from CIMMYT materials and released in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively for wheat growing areas of Ethiopia. In addition, one improved bread wheat variety (Abay) has been released in 2021 from ICARDA materials for low-midland agro-ecologies. In these varietal development two breeding components (germplasm enhancements (hybridization and selection, introduction, evaluation, and selection) and varietal development (ON, PVT, NVT, and VVT) were considered. The new variety Deka was tested along with three checks (Ogolcho, Hawi, and Kingbird) in eight environments from 2015-2016 and Balcha from 2016-2017 with Ogolcho and Kakaba in eight environments. During the 2017-2018 main cropping season newly released bread wheat varieties Boru (with Wane and Hidasse) and Dursa (with Ogolcho and Kakaba) were tested at eleven locations and four locations respectively. Also, Abay was tested with Deka and Ogolcho as a check, and Shaki was tested with Wane and Lemu during the 2018-2019 cropping season. The two years of data of NVT combined over locations and years provide the newly released varieties showed superior grain yield performance, stability, and wide adaptation. The six newly released varieties have been demonstrated and are being cultivated by farmers for production purposes. Hence, the cultivation of newly released improved bread wheat varieties Balcha, Dursa, and Abay in the low- midland agro-ecologies, Deka in the midland while, Boru and Shaki in mid-highland wheat-growing agroecologies.