Genetic variability and association for quality traits in ethiopian durum wheat (triticum turgidum l. var. durum) genotypes at hera liphitu, Southern Ethiopia

Testing genotypes for the presence of variations and generation of genetic information is the first step in plant breeding to develop varieties for the targeted area of production. Therefore, this research was conducted at Hera Liphitu, Yabello Pastoral and Dryland Agriculture Research Center on farm research site, southern Ethiopia, with the objectives of estimating genetic variability and heritability of quality traits in Ethiopian durum wheat genotypes. A total of 21 durum wheat genotypes including seven released varieties and one local cultivar were evaluated using randomized complete block design with three replications. Analysis of variance revealed the presence of highly significant (P ≤ 0.01) variation among genotypes for vitresneous, gluten content, zeleny index, wet gluten content, dry gluten content and test weight. The calculated values for heritability and genetic advance as percent of mean ranged from 4.13 (sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation test) and 78.96% (vitresneous) and 0.38 (ash content) and 20.95% (vitresneous), respectively. Correlation of zeleny index and gluten content, zeleny index and protein content, zeleny index and vitresneous were highly significant both at phenotypic and genotypic levels. Generally, it has been observed the presence of variability among the genotypes studied and the possibility of increasing grain yield by 10% by exerting 5% selection intensity that can be exploited to improve yield in the study area.