Effect of Planting Date on Cold Tolerance of Winter and Spring Barley Genotypes

In order to evaluate cold tolerance of twenty barley genotypes under field conditions, an experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design at 3 sowing dates of October 5, November 5, and December 5 in Saatlu Agricultural Research Station, West Azarbaijan, Iran, during 2010-11 seasons. Also, another experiment was conducted on the same genotypes based on a completely randomized design under greenhouse conditions. in wich Cold stress was applied up to -25°C at two, four and six leaf development stages. LT50, ion leakage and dry matter were measured and apex photographed. Field experiment results showed the lowest significant differences at p≤0.05 between different levels of sowing date, genotype, and interaction between them for plant height, spike/m2, kernel per spike, 1000-kernel weight, grain yield and total dry matter. Genotypes of winter growth type had higher grain yield (4250kg/ha) than those with spring growth type (4190kg/ha). There were significant differences for ion leakage and dry matter at 4 and 6 leaf development stages under greenhouse conditions. Genotype 1 (winter growth type) with lowest values of range and standard deviation for grain yield, total dry matter and LT50 = -38 °C showed a relatively low ion leakage. In contrast, genotypes 5, 10 and 14 (spring growth type) were identified sensitive to cold stress due to having more values of range, standard deviation for grain yield and total dry matter, LT50 = -18 to -27 °C and ion leakage from 25 to 33µS/m. Regression analysis showed 1000-kernel weight and total dry matter to remain at final model. Cluster analysis indicated that genotypes 2, 18, 1, 17 and 19 were superior genotypes. In principal component analysis, four components showed 80% of total variations, and the first component with 26% of variation was an important yield component for improving grain yield of barley genotypes. In conclusion, grain yields of winter and spring barley genotypes were affected by different planting dates.