with a check variety for growth, yield and quality performances at four locations for
two crop cycles. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design
with three replications. The results revealed significant varietal differences in plant
height, days to shooting, time from planting to harvest, bunch weight, finger
diameter, length and weight, yield, peel thickness, pulp-to-peel ratio, soluble solids,
titratable acidity, pH, moisture and ash contents. The cultivars had generally short
and thick plants. Cultivars took from 243.8 to 316.8 days to flowering while from
374.4 to 446.7 days to first harvest. The yield ranged from 43.67 to 52.46 t ha-1. Five
cultivars had comparable yields to the check. The sensory results indicated that all
the cultivars were generally preferred. The candidate cultivars recorded higher
soluble solids, phosphorus and potassium, but lower titratable acidity than the
check. The moisture and ash contents ranged from 71.53 to 76.56% and 2.50 to 3.36%, respectively. Considering the growth and yield performances as well as fruit
physicochemical and sensory characteristics, ‘Lady Finger’ and ‘Dinke-1’ are
recommended for production in the major banana growing areas of Ethiopia.
