The study aimed to estimate the extent of genetic variability, heritability, and expected genetic gain attributable to agro-morphological traits and to suggest an effective selection scheme and specify promising genotypes for future oat breeding programs. One hundred twenty oat (Avena sativa L.) genotypes were evaluated at two locations in the central highlands of Ethiopia. The analysis of variance indicated that the mean squares due to locations and genotype x location interaction varied significantly for some measured traits while that of genotypes varied significantly (P ≤ 0.001) among all studied traits. Moreover, the estimates of genetic variability, heritability, and expected genetic advance indicate the presence of remarkable genetic diversity in oat genotypes and the magnitude of selection response for these traits in the population to develop superior genotypes for oat improvement. The result revealed that very high to moderately high heritability in a broad sense (h²_b) coupled with high to moderate genetic advance as percent of mean (GAM) were recorded for forage dry matter yield (h²_b= 64.4%; GAM = 19.3%), number of leaves at forage harvest (h²_b= 86.4%; GAM = 19.9%), stem dry matter yield (h²_b= 62.9%; GAM = 18.3%), forage yield production rate (h²_b= 69.7%; GAM = 21.7%), grain yield (h²_b= 64.2%; GAM = 26.1%), panicle length at grain harvest (h²_b= 80.9%; GAM = 21.9%), number of spikes per panicle (h²_b= 68.8%; GAM = 16.0%), and harvest index (h²_b= 80.9%; GAM = 26.0%). The results suggested that these traits are governed more by additive gene action, and selection based on these traits could be effective to achieve the desired genetic gains for improvement. Therefore, high forage dry matter and grain yielding genotypes along with these desirable yield-related traits could be considered for selection in oat genotypes.

该研究旨在估计农业形态性状的遗传变异性、遗传力和预期遗传增益的程度，并提出有效的选择方案并为未来燕麦育种计划指定有前途的基因型。在埃塞俄比亚中部高地的两个地点对一百二十个燕麦 ( Avena sativa L.) 基因型进行了评估。方差分析表明，某些测量性状的均方因位置和基因型 x 位置交互作用而变化显着，而基因型的均方则显着变化（P ≤ 0.001) 在所有研究的性状中。此外，对遗传变异性、遗传力和预期遗传进展的估计表明，燕麦基因型中存在显着的遗传多样性，以及群体中这些性状的选择反应程度，以开发出用于燕麦改良的优良基因型。结果表明，草料干物质产量记录了广义上非常高到中等高的遗传力 (h ² _{b ) 以及高到中等的遗传进步（GAM）（h} ² _b = 64.4%；GAM = 19.3%), 草料收获时的叶片数 (h ² _b = 86.4%; GAM = 19.9%), 茎干物质产量 (h ² _b= 62.9%；GAM = 18.3%）、饲料产量生产率（h ² _b = 69.7%；GAM = 21.7%）、籽粒产量（h ² _b = 64.2%；GAM = 26.1%）、籽粒收获时穗长（h ² _b = 80.9%；GAM = 21.9%）、每穗穗数（h ² _b = 68.8%；GAM = 16.0%）和收获指数（h ² _b = 80.9%；GAM = 26.0%）。结果表明，这些性状更多地受到加性基因作用的控制，并且基于这些性状的选择可以有效地实现改进所需的遗传增益。因此，高牧草干物质和谷物产量基因型以及这些理想的产量相关性状可以考虑用于燕麦基因型的选择。