Yield Stability Analysis and Farmers Participatory Varietal Selection of Bread Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) Varieties in the Southwestern Highlands of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is among the wheat producers in sub‐Saharan Africa, and its productivity has increased in the last few years. The major bottlenecks to the low productivity of bread wheat are a shortage of improved technologies, such as well‐adapted varieties preferred by farmers, insufficient application of fertilizers, and fungal pathogens. The objective of this study was to determine the magnitude and nature of genotype‐by‐environment interaction (GEI) and identify the best adaptable and high‐yielding bread wheat varieties preferred by farmers in the study areas. Fifteen improved bread wheat varieties were tested at three locations in the Southwest Ethiopia during 2023 and 2024 cropping seasons, using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) for grain yield revealed that there were significant ( p < 0.01) variations between varieties, environments, and their interactions. This indicates that there is genetic variation among the tested wheat varieties, suggesting the potential to select high‐yielding and stable varieties. The additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model also demonstrated the presence of GEI. The result of AMMI ANOVA showed that the proportions of the total sum of squares for environment, variety, and GEI for grain yield were 14.76%, 67.5%, and 5.61%, respectively. The varieties Biftu and Shaki were high yielders and stable across the environments. The farmers’ overall mean preference value for the varieties across the locations also showed that Biftu and Shaki were selected as the best varieties. Therefore, Biftu, Shaki, and Wane varieties are recommended for the study areas and similar agroecologies in the country.