GROWTH AND YIELD RESPONSE OF FOOD BARLEY (Hordeum vulgars L.) VARIETIES TO SEEDING RATES IN CHEHA DISTRICT, GURAGE ZONE, CENTRAL ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an important food security and cash crop in Central Ethiopia. The productivity of the crop is very low in many parts of the Gurage zone, including the Cheha district. Several factors are responsible for the area's low crop yield. There is limited information on the response of various barley genotypes and seed rates for optimal production. Hence, a field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of seeding rate and genotypes on growth, yield, and yield components of barley in Cheha District. Factorial combinations of four food barley varieties, namely HB-1307, HB1966, HB1965, and Local genotype, and four seeding rates (75, 100, 125, and 150 kg ha- 1 ) were used. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The result showed that seeding rate and varieties significantly affected the majority of food barley growth and yield parameters. The highest days to 50% heading (82 days), and days to physiological maturity (139 days), were recorded on 75 kg of seeding rate ha-1 with variety HB1966, while, the highest plant height (96 cm) was recorded with the use of 150 kg ha-1 of food barley seeding rate on HB1966 variety. The highest spike length (8 cm), total number of tillers (8), number of productive tillers (7), and number of kernels spike- (66) were recorded on the use of a 75 kg ha-1 seeding rate with the HB-1307 variety. The highest biomass yield (13.18 t ha-1 ) and straw yield (8.95 t ha-1 ) were recorded on 150 kg of seeding rate ha-1 with variety HB-1307. The highest grain yield (4.89 t ha -1 ), thousand seed weight (57g), and harvest index (43%) were recorded on variety HB-1307 with a 125 kg ha-1 seed rate. Net benefit of 129375.5 ETB ha-1 was obtained from the treatment combination of 125 kg ha-1 food barley seed rate with Variety HB-1307. The result indicated that the food barley variety HB-1307 with a seeding rate of 125 kg ha-1 is economically feasible and profitable for the study area. Since the present study was conducted only in a single season and location, it is necessary to conduct similar experiments further in different seasons and locations to come up with concrete and workable recommendation for varieties and seeding rates of food barley.