Performance of sage (Salvia officinalis L.) for morpho-agronomic and chemical traits in different agro-ecologies of Ethiopia

This experiment was conducted with the objective of evaluating the performance sage (Salvia officinalis L.) in different agroecology of Ethiopia for morpho-agronomic and chemical traits at Wondo genet, Hawassa, Qoqa and Holleta for two years from 2011/2012 to 2012/2013 cropping seasons. Data on plant height, branch number/plant, fresh leaf weight/plant, fresh stem weight/plant, above ground biomass/plant, fresh leaf weight/ha, essential oil (EO) content and EO yield/ha were collected from four locations arranged in randomized complete block design with four replications. Growing location demonstrated a significant influence (P< 0.05) on the performance of all the parameters considered. With increasing year, the performance of Sage was significantly affected (P< 0.05) only on three of the nine traits. The interaction between location and yea was significant for seven of the nine traits. The overall average value of plant height, branch number/plant, leaf number/plant, fresh leaf weight/plant, fresh stem weight/plant, above ground biomass/plant, fresh leaf weight/ha EO content and EO yield/ha of sage across the tested location and years ranged from 47.7-66.9 cm, 70.13-262.07, 619.7-4046.2, 159.13-506.31 g, 63.77-279.93 g, 221.6-743.8 g, 2772-14064 kg, 1.11-1.70% and 30.67-240.03 kg, respectively. The maximum for all the characters were recorded at Hawassa and Wondo Genet except for branch number which was found tall at Holleta. Most of the characters are statistically the same over the testing years; however, plant height, branch number and leaf number/plant demonstrated a respective percent increase value of 21.3%, 50.19% and 71.98% during the first testing year.