131 The Korean Society of Crop Science J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 2016 (JUNE) 19 (2) : 131~136 RESEARCH ARTICLE DOI NO. 10.1007/s12892-015-0089-6 Participatory Varietal Evaluation of Open Pollinated Maize in Western Amhara, North-west Ethiopia Melkamu Elmyhun * , Molla Mekonen Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI), Adet Agricultural Research Center Received: January 22. 2016 / Revised: March 14. 2016 / Accepted: April 18. 2016 Ⓒ Korean Society of Crop Science and Springer 2016 Abstract Open pollinated maize varieties are one of the best options for farmers who cannot afford the cost of hybrids, cultivating maize in low potential environments and cannot pay for inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. The experiment was conduct- ed to use farmers’ input and feedback on selection of well-adapted, high-yielding, and disease-tolerant maize varieties. Treatments were arranged in completely randomized block design with three replications. Gibe-1 was better preferred open pollinated maize variety by famers due its cob length, disease tolerance, good husk cover and yield. Gibe-1 provided the high- est grain yield in South Achefer (8.8 t ha -1 ) and the best performing genotype across environments with grain yield of 7.8 t ha -1 . Gibe-1 also had a good reaction to common leaf rust and tercicum leaf blight. GGE biplot analysis classified testing environ- ments in to four mega environments and showed high influence of the environment to grain yield with the contribution of vari- ation 59.59% by the environment, 7.25% by the genotype, and 18.38% by interaction. Gibe-1 was identified as the most ideal open pollinated maize variety which produced the highest mean grain yield and was the most stable. Therefore, Gibe-1 is rec- ommended as a potential open pollinated maize variety for Jabitehinan, South Achefer, and similar agro ecologies. Key words : GE interaction, GGE biplot, ideal genotype, indirect matrix Maize (Zea mays) is the main food crop in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. It accounts for 16.28% of the total grain crop production that contributes 84.96% in the country (CSA, 2013). Maize donated 21.38% of the total cereal and 17.27% of the total grain production in Amhara region (CSA, 2013). The development of improved maize variety in Ethiopia focuses on the improvement of two types of maize varieties: hybrids and open pollinated maize varieties. Hybrids are superior in yield potential compared to open pollinated maize varieties. Even if open pollinated maize mostly provided lower yield than hybrids, they can provide comparable yield as hybrid under reduced input utilization (Emmanuel et al, 2014; Thembinkosi Nyathi, 2010) and farmers can save their seed to use for more than three years. In addition to these open pollinated maize varieties are easier to develop than hybrids and their seed production is relatively simple and inexpensive (CIMMYT, 1999). The genetic make of open pollinated maize is more heterogeneous compared to hybrids that open-pollinated maize can also be more disease-resistant and better able to withstand pest attacks, possibly making them better choices for farmers who wishes to avoid chemical treatments (Jaradat et al., 2010; Kutka, 2011). Open pollinat- ed maize varieties are the best choice to small scale farmers which cannot afford the cost of hybrids, cultivating maize in low potential environment and cannot pay for inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, in the deficiency of adapted hybrids and absence of enough hybrid seed for timely planting (Emmanuel et al., 2014; Kutka, 2011; Thembinkosi Nyathi, 2010). SARE (2004) reported that maize producers’ interest in growing open pollinated maize has increased due to four main reasons: economic considerations, grain quality, self- reliance, and independence from agricultural conglomerates. To address these concerns of maize producers especially small scale farmers, open pollinated maize varieties should be developed and available as a choice. Testing of released or Introduction Melkamu Elmyhun ( ) Email : elmyhunm@gmail.com