Evaluation of agronomic and physiological characteristics of barley genotypes in farmers' fields

In order to evaluate the productivity potential of some barley varieties and promising lines under no-till condition an experiment was conducted in cold (Sonqor) and warm (Sarpol-e Zahab) dryland regions of Kermanshah province during 2017-18 cropping season. In the cold condition, seven winter genotypes and in the semi-warm condition seven spring genotypes were evaluated for grain yield and some agro-physiological traits. The results of ANOVA in the cold condition indicated significant differences (P<1%) days to heading, chlorophyll content (SPAD), days to physiological maturity and grain yield. In the semi-warm condition the genotypes were significantly differed (P<5%) for normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and canopy temperature (CT). In cold condition, grain yield of genotypes varied from 2818 (Sahand variety) to 5864 kgha-1 (belong to breeding line G4). In the semi-warm condition, due to severe drought and terminal heat stress the grain yield of genotypes varied from 208 (Faraz cultivar) to 367 kgha-1 (local variety). Based on genotype × trait biplot analysis, in cold region genotypes G4 and G6 was the best for grain yield (YLD) with 1000-kernel weight (TKW), number of grain per spike (NGPS) and days to heading; and in semi-warm condition genotype G3 had the best results for both YLD and TKW. The profiles of trait associations were relatively different in cold and semi-warm conditions. The positive correlations of NGPS and TKW with grain yield showing the importance of these traits to enhance yield productivity under dryland conditions.