Exploiting the morphological and phenological diversity in barley landraces of Iran

Barley is one of the most widely cultivated crops in marginal lands, which is often exposed to abiotic stresses. It seems that genetic diversity is the key factor for adaptation to diverse environments. In this research, a diversity of 500 landraces of Hordeum vulgare in barley germplasm collection of National Plant Gene Bank of Iran (NPGBI) was collected from various climatic zones and evaluated for morphological and phenological traits. The experiment was held in the research field of Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj, Iran. The traits were measured based on the guidelines of Bioversity International. One-way analysis of variance indicated a significant difference between winter, facultative, and spring growth types concerning the traits. Based on the mean comparison, winter-type landraces had a longer growth phase (higher values in days to spike emergence and flowering). Winter and facultative landraces had more values in plant height (88.92 and 86.76 cm respectively) and grain yield was higher in winter barley landraces. The results of the multivariate analysis indicated that two-row landraces had higher kernel weight and spike length compared to six-row landraces, which seems to be a moderator of adverse environmental factors on yield production. The grain yield in two-row and six-row barley was not significantly different. The obtained results in this study revealed that two-row barley landraces were generally spring-type while six-row landraces were typically winter-type. Xerothermic coefficient of two-row barley landraces was significantly lower than that of six-row types; therefore, it could be assumed that six-row landraces were mostly originated from hot and dry areas.