An experiments consisting of 24 field pea genotypes using a randomized complete block design with three replications were evaluated for performance and correlation of yield and its components in five locations of Southern region, Ethiopia during 2006/07. Data were recorded on some agronomical traits such as plant height, biological yield, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant, number of seeds per pod, Harvest index, 100 seed weight and seed yield. Significant difference among the field pea genotypes for grain yield was observed in all locations. The highest mean grain yield (2659 kg ha-1) over the locations was achieved by the genotype Gume followed by Milky (2625 kg ha-1), FpEx-Dz (2511 kg ha-1) and Weyyetu (2460 kg ha-1). Among the locations maximum mean grain yield was produced at Angacha (3801.98 kg ha-1) followed by Hossana (2087.93 kg ha-1), Freeze (1734.96 t ha-1) and Waka (1428.8 kg ha-1). The environmental indices and mean seed yield of the present study corroborated that Angacha was found to be a favourable environment for the majority of field pea genotypes. Combined analysis of variance (ANOVA) Genotype xenvironment interaction (GEI) was highly significant for all traits of the study though; Markos, IG-51890 and IG-51700 were seem to be stable for more than one trait and may be recommended for further testing in diverse environments of south Ethiopia. Significantly positive correlation of biological yield, number of seeds per plant, number of pods per plant, harvest index and plant height with seed yield indicates that these traits should be used as selection criteria to maximize grain yield.
Keywords: : Field Pea, Performance, Simple Correlation, Wider Adaptability, Yield Components
