Performance Evaluation of Maize (Zea mays L.) Varieties in Low Moisture Stress Area of Southern Ethiopia

Maize is priority crop to farmers because it is a stable food in many rural communities of southern region. It is widely grown in the various parts of southern region from lowland to mid-highlands. On the other hand, moisture stress is one the most critical production constraints of maize in low to intermediate agro-ecology. Hence, screening maize varieties tolerant to moisture stress is of paramount important in order to sustain maize production in moisture areas. In this context, field experiment was conducted at Amaro, Halaba and Inseno testing sites of Hawassa Agricultural Research Center during 2012/2013 cropping season inorder to select adaptable maize varieties for moisture stress with reasonable grain yield. Treatments consisted of eleven maize varieties (Gibe I, Gibe II, Guto, Mlekasa I, Melkasa II, Melkasaa IV, Melkasa VI, Shalla, BH-540, BH-543 and Aba raya) released for variable agroecologies. The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Analysis of variance revealed that plants had higher plant height, ear height, number of rows per cob, seeds per row, seeds per cob, biomass, grain yield, HI and prolificacy at Inseno and Halaba as compared to Amaro. Generally, almost all maize varieties exhibited superior performance at Inseno followed by Halaba for agronomic traits whereas their performance was poor at Amaro. Based on this result that BH 540, BH 543 could be used at Inseno and Halaba with specific inclusion Shalla for Halaba and Abaraya for Inseno. Further more , varieties Gibe II, Melkasa II and Shalla can be recommended for Amaro environment.