Study on grain yield stability of barley varieties/lines in cold and semi-cold dryland areas

This study was conducted to determine grain yield stability of rainfed promising barley genotypes across six rainfed research stations (Maragheh، Sararood، Uromieh، Qamloo، Zanjan and Ardabil) under cold and semi-cold conditions during three cropping seasons (2006-2009) in Iran. The studied genotypes were 10 promising barley lines along with two checks (one local and one newly released variety، (Abidar). In each environment، the experiment was arranged in randomised complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Results of combined ANOVA showed that location، year، genotype and interactions of location´genotype and year´location´genotype had significant effect on grain yield. The genotypes had the highest and the lowest grain yield in Sararood (2549 Kg/ha) and Zanjan (1578 Kg/ha) stations، respectively. Line No. 9 with 2061 Kg/ha had the highest grain yield among the tested genotypes. Results of stability parameters (i. e.، Eberhart and Russell’s regression method، Lin and Binn’s method، environmental coefficient of variation، environment variance، Wricke’s ecovalance،Shukla’s stability variance and ranking methods) showed that line No. 2، 5 and 9 had higher and stable yield in different environments. Hence، these genotypes could be recommended for cultivation under cold and semi-cold rainfed conditions of Iran.