DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2019.v07i02.010

Pages: 93-100

Multi-environment trials were conducted during rainy season (June-October, 2015) at four locations of Niger country (latitude 13°29' N, Longitude 2°10' E). A large number of improved varieties exist in an uncontrolled way. These varieties show better yields in favorable climatic conditions but their adaptations are fragile at the least abiotic constraint. Stable performance of pearl millet cultivars under diverse ecological zones is vital to maintain the necessary increase in food production. The objective of this work is to estimate the Genotype by Environment Interaction (GEI) for grain yield in ten pearl millet varieties and to identify stable and promising varieties for general and specific adaptation across different agroecosystems in Niger. The experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The phenological, morphological and agronomic traits were evaluated during vegetation and at harvest. Analysis of variance showed highly significant difference between the varieties (p=0.002) and between localities (p=0,001). However, the interaction genotype by environment (GEI) is relatively of low significance (p=0,123). Proportions of variance explained respectively by genotypes, environment and Genotypes x environment were 12.74%; 65.98% and 21.28% of total variation. This indicates a strong effect of the environment on genotypes grain yield. Among ten varieties the variety MI1054 showed the highest average grain yield (1.462 tons per ha) but the variety MI1363 showed the best stability across environments with 1.265 tons per ha of grain yield. The varieties GB8735 and H-80-10-GR showed high performance for the region of Magaria, when HKP is better for Niamey.