Agronomic evaluation of Ethiopian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) landrace populations under drought stress conditions in low-rainfall areas of Ethiopia

Abstract: Drought is the main factor limiting the yield of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in drought prone areas of Ethiopia because rainfall is scarce, unevenly distributed and temperatures are high during grain filling period. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the yield performance and some agronomic traits of 20 barley landrace populations and three long-term checks (Bentu, Aruso and Saesa-a) for drought tolerance at Endayesus, Mekelle, Tigray. The design used was randomized complete block with three replications. In addition to the field experiment, a filter paper experiment was carried out to observe early root development so as to relate the fastest root growth with the overall field performance of the varieties. Accession numbers 235238, 235264 and 237320 significantly differed from the other varieties including the check varieties in attaining 50 percent heading and 75 percent maturity (P<0.01). Similarly, accession numbers 235238, 235259, 231191 and 235299 significantly out yielded all the other varieties including the two checks) at the 0.01 level of probability. Varieties also significantly differed in their thousand seed weight, a trait known to have positive correlation with yield. Accordingly, accession numbers 235299, 235264, 235238, 223191, 237327, 235285 and 235259 had the highest thousand seed weight. Bivariate correlation analysis revealed strong positive correlation of root length with grain yield and harvest index. Similarly, harvest index with grain yield, thousand seed weight with grain yield, and with productive tillers had positive correlations. Overall, accession numbers 235238, 235264 and the local check, Saesa-a have significantly proven superiority over the others in their overall performance in the field and also consistently demonstrated the fastest root development in the filter paper experimentation. The strong positive correlation of root length with thousand seed weight, harvest index and grain yield in combination with other agronomic performances in the field could be used as selection criteria for drought tolerance.