Zahak, a New Irrigated Barley Cultivar with Wide Adaptability in the Warm and Dry Agro-Climate Zone in the South of Iran

Irrigated barley is grown on about 50,000 hectares in the warm agro-climate zone in the south of Iran. The average grain yield of barley in these areas is 2,000 Kg/ha. Wide adaptability and high grain yield stability are important assets for barley varieties to be grown by farmers. Zahak barley cultivar was initially selected from international barley germplasm received from CYMMIT and based on its high grain yield and yield stability as well as its desirable agronomic characteristics in the experiments, which were conducted from 1996 to 2010, was released for growing in the warm agro-climate zone in the south of Iran. The average grain yield of Zahak is 4846 kg/ha that is 524 kg/ha higher than grain yield recorded for Nimrooz variety, a widely-grown barley variety in the warm regions of Iran. Zahak is six-rowed spring barley with a medium plant height (85-90 cm). The average of days from sowing to maturity for Zahak is 138 days but it has a longer grain filling period comparing to the older barley cultivars in southern parts of Iran such as Jonoob and Nimrooz. Possessing fertile florets at the lower spikelets of the mature spike is other important characteristic of Zahak. In addition, it exhibits lodging resistance, non-shattering rachis as well as semi-resistant infection responses to powdery mildew and spot blotch diseases in the most of warm agro-climate zone in the south of Iran.