VARIABILITY OF SEEDLING TRAITS IN SEMI-DWARF AND NON-DWARF SPRING BARLEY CULTIVARS

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to study some seed and seedling characteristics and their relationship with plant height in semi-dwarf and non-dwarf spring barley varieties. The study was conducted at the Institute of Agriculture - Karnobat, Southeastern Bulgaria during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons. Ten semi-dwarf and ten non-dwarf cultivars of spring barley from the USA and Canada were studied. The semi-dwarf cultivars showed significantly lower mean values for the length of coleoptile and seedling and seminal root number compared to non-dwarf cultivars. However, there were semi-dwarf cultivars with a coleoptile length similar to that of non-dwarf cultivars. Correlation analysis showed a significant association of plant height with seedling length and seminal root number. The rest of the seedling characteristics were uncorrelated with plant height and, hence allowing breeding for that trait without compromising high seedling vigour.

Keywords

• hordeum vulgare
• germination
• seedling characteristics
• plant height