Evaluation of hulless mutants of winter barley
Summary
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the morphological and agronomic traits of seven hulless mutants of winter barley variety 'Ahil'. The study was conducted in two growing seasons at the experimental field of the Institute of Agriculture - Karnobat, south-eastern Bulgaria. The studied traits included: grain yield, number of spikes per m2, winter hardiness, plant height, lodging, days to heading, spike length, awn length, peduncle length, spikelet number per a spike, grain number per a spike, grain weight per spike, 1000 grain weight, hectolitre weight, grain length, grain width, grain length to width ratio and protein content. The results revealed a high level of variations for studied morphological and agronomic traits among hulless mutants. Mutant lines had from 20% to 42% lower grain yield compared to the parent. The number of spikes per m2 and winter hardiness were highly correlated with grain yield so those traits could be used in the selection of high-yielding varieties. Hulless mutants had higher grain protein content than the parent and standard varieties. Studied mutants could served as a breeding material for further improvement of hulless barley.
Keywords
Full Text: PDF