Selection for High Yield and Stability among Early Maturing Greengram Genotypes

Greengram, Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek is an important source of proteins and micronutrients to small holder farmers in eastern and northern regions of Uganda. Most of the landraces currently grown by small scale farmers are characterized by low yields and late maturity. In order to identify high yielding and stable varieties, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the yield performance of introduced early maturing genotypes from the World Vegetable Centre (AVDRC) in seven locations of Uganda. Yield performance data for the genotypes was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test the significance of genotype environmental interactions as well as stability analysis using the yield - stability statistic (YS sub( i)) as an aid for simultaneous selection for high yield and stability. Analyses of variance showed that genotype environmental interactions (GE) were significant and therefore could not be ignored. Following the detection of significant genotype environmental interactions, yield - stability statistics (YS sub( i)) were generated and used for simultaneous selection for high yield and stability among the introduced genotypes. Yield-stability statistics (YS sub( i)), indicated that three introduced genotypes (Filsan, Sunshine, and Blackgram) in addition to the local check were stable and high yielding. These genotypes need to be assessed for farmer preferences/tastes and other quality traits in on-farm participatory trials before they can be recommended for release.