Registration of Teff [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] “Beriso” Variety

Background: Teff [Eragrostis tef (Zucc) Trotter] is the most important staple cereal crop in Ethiopia in terms of area of production, consumption, and as a cash crop. Because of its gluten-free proteins and slow-release carbohydrate constituents, teff is recently being advocated and promoted as a diet for promoting heal that the global level. However, the productivity of the crop is very low compared to other cereals like wheat maize & barley. This is mainly due to lack of high-yielding and lodging tolerant cultivars. Objective: To register the newly released teff variety for commercial production. Materials and Methods: Eighteen tef genotypes including local and standard check variety (Dursi) were evaluated using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications at Shambu, Gedo, and Arjo locations during 2020-2022 under rain-fed conditions. All agronomic practices were applied per recommendation. Data were collected on phenological, agronomic, and yield traits and subjected to analysis of variance. Results: The AMMI model combined ANOVA showed that grain yield was significantly affected by the environment because of significant variance at 1% level (Table 4), which explained 61.12% of the total variation whereas the GEI accounted for 13.14%, and the genotypes captured 20.97 of the total sum of squares (Table 3). The results from Genotype and Genotype by Environment interaction (GGE) biplot analysis revealed that Beriso was found to be the most stable genotype with the highest grain yield of 2547.7 kg ha–1from among the tested genotypes. The new variety had a yield advantage of 25.8% over the standard check. Conclusion: Among the tested candidate genotypes, Beriso was selected and released in 2023 for its stability, adaptability, and a higher grain yield advantage of about 26% over the standard check Dursi in the western parts of the country. The teff variety Beriso is also tolerant to rust (Uromyces eragrostidis) which is very important teff disease in the area.