Diversity and Association of Characters in Tef Crop

Tef (Eragrostis tef [Zucc.] Trotter) is an indigenous staple cereal crop of Ethiopia that has many agronomic and nutritional merits. It is a gluten free cereal and an option for people allergic to wheat products. However, information on the genetic diversity of tef genotypes is very scant and that of recently released varieties is lacking. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the extent of genetic diversity and association of characters among traits of released tef varieties. Data were collected on quantitative and qualitative traits of tef and the analysis of variance has shown a highly (P<0.01) significant differences among genotypes for most quantitative traits. Genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variability, expected genetic advance and genetic advance as percent of the mean were also estimated. Besides, associations among different traits were assessed and cluster analysis was made. Generally, the presence of high genetic variation among the tested tef genotypes with respect to phenotypic traits was revealed. I hope, this work will give an insight on how diverse our released varieties are and helps breeder to design a comprehensive national breeding strategy.