Phenotypic diversity of the most important agronomical traits in a long-term breeding period of barley breeding in Serbia

Abstract

Barley breeding program in the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops Novi Sad has a very long tradition. The great effort focused on selecting and creating varieties with high yielding potential and good malting quality. This study aimed to analyse phenotypic variation during the historical period. The studied material consisted of 90 representative barley genotypes, which varied in a row number and growing types (6-rowed winter, 2-rowed winter and spring types) encompassing three different breeding periods. Field experiments were conducted in three growing seasons using a randomised complete block design with three replications. Eight important agronomic traits were evaluated during this period. The ANOVA showed that most of the analysed traits varied significantly between seasons, row types, and breeding periods. Comparison of three groups with different row types revealed earlier heading and flowering time of two-rowed than six-rowed types of winter barley.