Agronomic evaluation of Vernonia galamensis germplasm collected from Eastern Ethiopia

Vernonia galamensis is a new potential industrial oilseed crop originated in eastern and southeastern parts of Ethiopia. Its unique properties make it economically and environmentally interesting. No effort has been made so far in Ethiopia to improve this crop. Therefore, an evaluation work for 17 yield and yield component traits was conducted at three contrasting agroclimatic zones. The considered traits showed significant differences at all locations except for the characters days to emergence and days to maturity. The best producing accessions in terms of yields of kg oil/ha (kg/ha of seed multiplied by oil%) for Alemaya were varieties collected at Bedeno, Chirro and Gelemso which produce 1627.45, 1593.46 and 1582.95 kg oil/ha, respectively. Accessions from Chirro (1194.75 kg oil/ha), Bedeno (1187.14 kg oil/ha), and Metta (1157.49 kg oil/ha) were superior at Harar, while Harar Zuria, Metta and Chirro which produce 274.48, 244.33 and 230.74 kg oil/ha, respectively, were superior at Babile. These materials could be used as parent materials to start breeding programs for each specific location. There was a wide range of variation between the minimum and maximum values of most characters. Thus even within the limited germplasm studied, selection for improved characteristics appears to be possible in V. galamensis var. ethiopica. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.