Study on genetic variation of barely genotypes for P uptake and accumulation and their effects on yield and yield components under rainfed conditions

Low phosphorus (P) availability and its absorption limits barley production and quality in calcareous soils, especially in rainfed areas. With the aim of evaluation of genotypic variation for P absorption and accumulation in shoot and seed, and its influences on grain yield affecting morpho-physiological traits, 100 barley genotypes (including local landraces, advanced lines and released varieties) were studied under rainfed conditions. The experiment was conducted in square lattice. Based on ANOVA, there was significant differences among genotypes for shoot and seed phosphorus concentration and content, as well as for all measured morpho-physiological traits. The high range of variation for the measured traits showed that there was a great genotypic variation among barley genotypes for the measured traits. Shoot phosphorus concentration and content had significant and positive correlation with seed phosphorus concentration and content. On the other hand, seed phosphorus content had positive correlation with grain yield and thousands kernel weight. In short, the result of this study revealed great genotypic variation for the phosphorus absorption among barely genotypes. In addition, efficient genotypes had greater ability to absorb and accumulate more phosphorus that leads to increased grain yield with phosphorus dense seeds under drought conditions.