Abstract

Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] occupies two million hectares of land each year, which accounts for 28% of the total acreage. However, its productivity is constrained by drought. Development of drought resistant variety through inter-specific conventional crossing is crucial. Twenty five recombinant inbred lines (RILs) ofE. tef var Kay Murii and Eragrostis pilosa were evaluated against the standard check and two parental lines to assess drought resistance trait variability under low moisture-stressed and non-stressed conditions using randomized complete block design of three replications. The experiment was conducted under rainout shelter at Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. Significant (p<0.05) differences were observed among genotypes for days-to-panicle-emergence, days-to-mature, tiller number, root length, root number, root biomass, shoot biomass and grain yield. All traits had shown high level of phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation, high estimates of heritability and genetic advance. Most RILs were early maturing and resist the moisture stress effect (<20% yield reduction), while key murii and few other RILs were strongly affected. Under stressed condition, RIL-16 and RIL-290 were superior in grain yield to all genotypes and most RILs had shown high value of water use efficiency. Based on drought susceptible index, 17 drought resistant RILs were identified. The result demonstrated wide variability among RILs for drought resistance traits and the potential of E. pilosa to widen tef gene pool.

 Key words: Drought resistance, Eragrostis pilosa, RILs, tef.