Evaluation of Seed Yield and Morphological Characteristics of Some Barley Cultivars and Promising Lines in Southern Cities of Fars Province

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an important crop plant similar to wheat and rice. Barley is a great source of food  for human, and it is also used for feeding livestock. The ultimate goal of barley breeding programs is to increase production efficiency and stability on farmers' farms, which is made possible by replacing more productive cultivars with less productive and older cultivars. Participatory variety selection in farmers' lands is designed with the same objectives, in fact, it complements and supports breeding experiments that allow the direct participation of farmers and their views in the selection of more suitable cultivars. This study was conducted to compare the performance of barley cultivars and promising lines outside Agricultural Research Stations and make farmers, experts, and promoters more familiar with these lines' characteristics.

In order to evaluate a number of cultivars and barley lines from different climates (warm, cold and temperate climates and saline regions) in the southern cities of Fars province in terms of agronomic traits and especially grain yield, in the agronomic conditions of farmers, four separate experiments were performed in the form of non-repetitive experiments over two years in four cities of Fars province. Participatory variety selection was carried out in the cropping year of 2018-2019 in two County of Larestan (Joyem city) and Fasa (Shibkuh section) and in the cropping year of 2019-2020 in two cities of Jahrom and Estahban (Abanjirak village of Eij city). In order to select the appropriate cultivars and lines for each region, the selection index of ideal genotype (SIIG) was used.

SIIG index was calculated based on seed yield, 1000-kernel weight and number of days to ripening. The results of SIIG index showed that 5, 2, 5 and 9 lines and cultivars in Larestan, Fasa, Jahrom and Estahban with high SIIG index values (SIIG ≥ 0.600) were among the top lines, respectively. In Larestan, Fasa and Jahrom counties, the yield of all barley cultivars and promising lines was higher than the local check. The average yield of barley cultivars and promising lines in Larestan was 1138 kg ha-1, in Fasa was 2047 kg ha-1 and in Jahrom was 2193 kg ha-1 higher than the local check of each city.

In total, the proposed cultivars for cultivation in Estahban included Jolgeh (cold climate cultivar), Nanius (foreign cultivar), Golshan (saline regions cultivar), Ryhan03 and Beh Rokh (temperate cultivars) and Norooze (warm climate cultivar). Suitable cultivars for cultivation in Fasa included Norooze and Reyhan03, in Jahrom included WB-95-3 and WB-94-4 lines and in Larestan included Golchin and Auxin cultivars.