Evaluation of Desi Type Chickpea Varieties for Adapting under Irrigation at Kobo, Ethiopia

The experiments were conducted during 2018 – 2019 irrigation cropping season to evaluate adaptability and yield performance of desi type chickpea varieties with the involvement of farmers based on their preferences. Ten improved varieties together with the local as (check) were laid out in RCB design with three replications for the mother trial and the baby trial which was used for farmers’ preference selections. Data on days to maturity, Number of pods per plant, Number of seeds per pod, Number of branches, Plant height, biomass, hundred seed weight, grain yield and disease data were collected and analyzed. The farmers evaluated and selected the varieties depending on their criteria's from the baby trial. The criteria’s were grain productivity, earliness, seed color, seed size and free from any diseases. Farmers’ selection was analyzed by Pair Wise and Matrix ranking method. The analysis of variance showed significant difference (P<0.05) for grain yield and most of traits. The result showed that variety Minjar was the best yielder with seed yield 3349.9 kg/ha, followed by Dimtu (3218.9 kg/ha) and Mitik (2763.2 kg/ha), respectively. Grain yield was the first prioritized traits to farmers for selecting best adaptable chickpea variety under irrigation. Minjar was best variety based on ANOVA result and visually selected by the farmers as good for grain yield under irrigation followed by Kutaye and Mitik. Therefore; based on researchers and farmers’ perception Minjar variety will be recommended and pre-scale up for producing areas in the district and similar agro ecological zones under irrigation production system.