Evaluation of Vicia Species and Their Accessions for Forage Biomass Yield in Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Western Ethiopia

A study was carried out to evaluate four Vicia accessions from 3 species for forage biomass yield performance under two environmental conditions of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Western Ethiopia. The evaluated Vicia species and accessions were one V. benghanlensis (6798), two V. villosa (6213 and 6792) and one V. sativa, (5172) accessions. The experiment was conducted at Tongo and Assosa forage research station of Assosa Agricultural Research Center and the locations were purposively selected to represent highland and mid-altitude agro-ecologies, respectively. The experiment was set up with a randomized complete block design with three replications. Main effects differences among genotypes and environments significantly influenced forage dry matter yield (P 0.05). V. benghanlensis 6798 gave a relatively higher total dry matter yield followed by V. villosa 6792 and V. villosa 6213 at Tongo. Therefore, based on forage dry matter yield data V. benghanlensis 6798, V. villosa 6792 and V. villosa 6213 recommend as alternative legume forage crops from evaluated Vicia accessions for study areas and comparable agro-ecologies.