Agro-ecological decision support systems for wheat improvement in Ethiopia: Climatic characterisation and clustering of wheat growing regions

摘要: Wheat production environments in Ethiopia are highly heterogeneous with respect to natural resource characteristics, cropping systems, biotic and abiotic constraints. This paper analyses the agro-climatic resources of 20 representative wheat growing sites country groups them by cluster analysis develop homogeneous environmental groupings for improvement research. The defined clustered based on precipitation, temperature, altitude, longitude, length season. Annual precipitation decreases along a west-east axis, ranging from 1784 585 mm. major feature pattern is its seasonality distinct dry rainy seasons. Generally, season duration extends 2.5 6.5 months. In western, central northern parts country, rainfall distribution generally monomodal. eastern part (i.e., 39.4 42.5° E) bimodal, resulting two seasons, viz. "belg" (short) "meher" (main). Of parameters studied, annual main end period were negatively correlated longitude (r = -0.73**, -0.82**, -0.64** -0.43*). Altitude was only maximum minimum temperatures -0.86**). Three (C1, Western; C2, High Altitude; C3, Eastern) six subgroups (C1-1, C1-2, C3-1, C3-2, C3-3) identified analysis. Such clustering into should assist national programme making decisions about test site selection proper targeting released varieties.