Evaluation of barley genotypes based on morpho-physiological traits and drought tolerance indices under rainfed and supplementary irrigation conditions

The most of barley cultivation areas in Iran are located in cold, arid and semi-arid regions therefor, achiving to high yielding cultivars with appropriate adaptation to various climatic conditions and drought tolerance is necessary. For this purpose, some effective morphological traits on grain yield and drought tolerance were studied in 108 barley genotypes. The experiment conducted in alpha lattice design with two replications in two rainfed and irrigation conditions at Dryland Agricultural Research Institute (DARI) (Maragheh station) during 2015-2016. Analysis of variance showed there were significantly differences inall of the traits in rainfed and supplementary irrigation conditions. The most important traits affecting grain yield under rainfed conditions were thousand kernel weight, NDVI in booting stage, stem width and main spike length, and in supplementary irrigation conditions were thousand kernel weight, NDVI in milk development stage and main spike length. Drought tolerance indices also evaluated and MP, GMP, STI, YI, and SSPI indices had the highest correlation with grain yield in both conditions. Based on these indices, 25 drought tolerant genotypes were identified.