Correlation and path analysis of morphological traits associated with grain yield in drought stress and non-stress conditions in barley

In order to study the relationship between morphological and agronomic characteristics like grain yield in barley، and to obtain better knowledge of the effective attributes on barley yield in drought stress and non-stress conditions، an experiment was conducted at the Agricultural and Natural Resource Station of Sistan، in 2007. 81 lines of barley were examined using two 9×9 simple Lattice (stress and non-stress)، with two replications. Some characteristics such as number of seed per spike، spike length، plant height، radicle length، and peduncle length had high correlation with grain yield. In both conditions، maximum variation in grain yield could be attributed to the number of seed per spike، spike length، peduncle length and radicle length. The results of path analysis also revealed the importance of the direct effect of the four mentioned characters on grain yield and affirmed the importance of number of seed per spike. Plant height، reproductive stage and flag leaf pod length had a considerable influence on seed yield variability through the mentioned components.