The soybean crop as one of the valuable economically  the most important oil and pulse crop  Ethiopia and in the world due to its lot of different purpose advantages as a source of livestock, aquaculture feed, protein, oil for the human diet, and biofuel besides producing grain yield [1]). The soyabean crop has the character of a primary low-cost source of protein for animal feed and most pre packaged meals, soy-vegetable oil is another valuable product of the processing.Soybeans can produce at least twice as much protein per acre than many other major vegetable or grain crops [2]. Soybean is  the most important  crops  as a source of protein (40%),35% carbohydrate, and 5% ash on a dry matter basis. Most developing countries are faced with extensive malnutrition and food insecurity, high oil content (20%), the best ingredient for industrial food complexes, and It also has a superior amino acid profile compared to other legumes  [3]. Soybean crop is well known as to in improving and amending soil properties through nitrogen fixation and enhanced moisture retention [4]. In Ethiopia food processing plc company has imported and used soybeans to prepare balanced food for infants and adults[5] knowdays the factory has been trying to improve the food values of other food types by mixing them with soybean flour, which indicates the importance of soybeans and its increment on the market[6].Soybean in Ethiopia, are cultivated over wider agroecologies that have moderate annual rainfall (500-1500mm [7] and  the crop grows  well in  between 1300 and 1800 m.a.s.l. and it requires temperature ranging from 23- 25oC and medium relative humidity for optimum yield production[8] ,[9] and grows best on well-drained loamy soils that are high in fertility. The crop does well in slightly acidic to neutral soils having a pH of about 5.7 to 6.2. The crop is a short-day plant and most varieties require about 12 hours of light, although some are less sensitive [10]. The crop  production and productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa counter results   increasing trends in the past ten years ago and are expected to increase in the later   [11]. In our countery  Ethiopia,  soyabean crop   has a total  land coverage  of 36,635.79 ha and  812,346.59 quintals of production in yield , and 22.17 quintals per hectare of production. In SNNPR a total of 209.28 ha of land was covered, 2,684.09 quintals of production, and 12.83 quintals per hectare of production were recorded [12]. Know days  soybean  crop is  important  and supported by government and non governmental organizations. At regional level, the yield of soyabean was limited in production   than the average potential  yield (12.83 quintals per hectare) under optimium crop management practice . [12]. In  the South Ethiopia and Central Ethiopia Regionis, the yield was limited because of  none adaptation and promotion of relased    varieties, lack of crop management   rainful distribution problem   soil fertility problem ,  different diseases and insect pests [13]. Know days   approximately 34 soybean varieties have been registerd for production  by different national and regional  research centers in Ethiopian  [14]. However, improved soyabean evaluation and its performance was not done and  recommended  in the past in the  Ari Zone . Soybean is  potential crop  in production in the  area of South Ethiopia   and Ari  Zone araeas. Therefore the experiment was done to evaluating   the performance of  recentely released  varieties that have high yielder  and recommend  for production and productivity in Ari Zone of South Ethiopia   and other similar  areas .

MATERIALS AND METHODS

 Reseach Area  Description

The research trial was conducted at the Jinka Agricultural Research Center, located in Ari Zone, during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 main cropping seasons. Ari Zone is situated in the southern part of Ethiopia, with its administrative center, Jinka city, located approximately 729 km south of Addis Ababa. The geographical coordinates of Jinka are 36°33’–37°67″E and 5°46’–6°57″N, at an altitude of 1,450 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.).

The study area receives an average annual rainfall of 1,307.3 mm, distributed over two distinct seasons, and experiences average temperatures ranging from 21.0°C to 28.0°C. The soil at the experimental site is classified as sandy loam with a pH of 6.41, making it suitable for various agricultural practices [15].

Treatments and Experimental Procedures

Twelve (12) improved soybean varieties such as:-  Nyala, Hawasa -95, Hawasa-04, Clark 63K, Melko bonsa, Gishama, Gazelle, Nova, Pawe-3, Afgat, Pawe-2, Coker-240 were evaluated in appropriate mothod of   randomized complete block design (RCBD) on (3) three replications. The trial had aplot  area of 4m x 5m (20 m²) separated by a distance of 1meter between plots within a block and 1.5 meter  between blocks within the experiment.  40 centimeter  between rows and 10 centimeter  between plants was maintained in spacing  and a seed rate of 60-70 kg/ ha was used according to the seed size of the crop. Cultivation, leveling, weeding, and other agronomic activities were applied equally to all the entry treatments at their proper time of application.

Data Collection and Data Analysis

Data collection was performed on both a plant and plot basis. Grain yield and hundred seed weight were recorded at the plot level, while key plant-based data were collected from selected plants within the middle rows of each plot. For parameters such as plant height, the number of pods per plant, and the number of seeds per pod, the average values of five randomly selected plants per experimental plot were used for statistical analysis.

Grain yield data were measured from the five central rows of each plot and subsequently converted to a per-hectare basis. Hundred seed weights were determined by randomly selecting 100 seeds harvested from the five central rows of each plot and weighing them using a sensitive balance.

For data analysis, the collected data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SAS software after verifying the assumptions of ANOVA. Treatment means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD) test at a 5% probability level.

RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS

 Results of Analysis of Variance

 Combined analysis of variance was done to identify  the effects of  varieties, year, and their  interaction (year * varieties). Combined analysis of variance  is presented in table 3. The combine mean square due to varieties shows significant (P < 0.05) differences for all of the studied parametrs  except the number of pods per plant which was a non-significant difference (P >0.05). The mean squares due to years’ results show significant differences (P < 0.05)  for plant height, grain yield, and hundred seed weight while non-significant differences for  pod number per plant and number of seeds per plant. The result of interactions (year* varieties) shows non-significant differences for all of the traits except plant height.

The combined Result Data For the Two-Year

Plant height: In this current study,  the  result of combined analysis of variance as shown in table 3,  shows  the main effects of varieties and year, as well as their interactions had significant effect (P<0.05)  on plant height. The longest combined  plant height (74.1 cm) was recorded to variety Gishama followed by variety pawe-3 (57.36cm), while the shortest (31.53cm) plant height was recorded to variety Clark 63K (Table 4). This variation shows the differences in  environment factories , climatic conditions, genetic makeup of the varieties and other factors. This result is in line with [16] who recorded   height of plant showed that, significantly difference among the evaluated varieties. Similarly [13] experimented with soybean variety evaluation and he observed a significant difference in plant height of different varieties of soybean.

Pod  numbers  per plant: The  results of  analysis of variance indicates  that, the main effects of varieties , year and  their interaction had no effects on the pod numbers  per plant (P>0.05). From the result, the maximum   pods per plant (58) was collected  to  pawe 3 ,while minimum pods number  per plant (28.40) was recorded to variety Hawsa-04 (Table 3). The difference in the  pod numbers  per plant might be because the  pod numbers  per plant is regulated by the varieties of soybeans. This current result was similar to the research finding of [13], who reported that there was a significant difference in  numbers  per plant among different soybean varieties.  

Seed numbers per pod: The result of analysis of variance indicaties ,  the main effects of varieties were significant effects on the  seeds  numbers per pod but  effects of years were no effects on  seed numbers  per pod. The interaction of varieties and year effect shows none significant effects on  seeds  numbers per pod (P>0.05). Maximum  seed numbers  per pod (3) is recorded to   Gishama variety  and the other varieties have statically similar values (Table 4). Yield (kg/ ha): The main effect of variety and year had significant  effect (P<0.05) and their interactions had none  effects on  yield. From the result, the maximum  yield results  (2963.8kg/ ha), (2853.6kg/ ha), and (2652.9kg/ ha) were recorded for varieties, Gazele, Gishama, and Pawe-2 respectively and the minimum yield result (1331.4 kg/ ha) was recorded to Hawassa-95. The current research finding  is similar  to the  finding of [13], who observed and reported a significant difference among soybean varieties based on their yield potentials. Similarly, [17] studied one evaluation of soybean varieties and reported that, there was  resulted as a significant difference in grain yield in soybean varieties based on performance. Hundred seed weight.The combined analysis of variance of the current study shows. the main effects of variety and year had significant effect (P<0.05)  while  their interactions had none significant effects on grain yield. The maximum  wight of hundred seed  yield (20 g) was recorded for the variety Gazelle and the minimum hundred weight of  seedt yield (12 g) was recorded for the variety Nova.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In this present research study, twelve soybean varieties were evaluated in 2022 and 2023 for two consecutive main cropping   years to select high yielder varieties for  Ari Zon areas . From the research finding  results, the maximum grain yield  were (2963.8 kg /ha), (2853.6 kg /ha) and (2652.9 kg /ha) was obtained  to the  varieties, Gazele, Gishama, and Pawe-2  than the other evaluated and tested varieties. Therefore, these three varieties, Gazele, Gishama, and Pawe-2  recommended for Ari Zone area and areas with similar agroecologies .

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

No conflicts

availability of data

The data supporting of this research  finding are available with in the reseach  article and its supplementary materials.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the South Ethiopia  Agricultural Research Institute (SEARI) for financial support as well as   Jinka Agricultural Research Center (JARC) for facilitation during the fieldwork and write up activities .

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