Assessment of yield stability and disease responses in Ethiopian barley (Hordeium vulgare L.) landraces and crosses

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess yield stability and disease responses of barley landraces and crosses. Sixteen barley landraces including crosses were tested across eleven environments in randomized complete block design in four replications in Bale highlands of Southeastern Ethiopia. GGE (i.e., G = Genotype, GE = genotype x environment, interaction) biplot procedure was used for graphical display of yield data after subjecting genotype means of each environment to GGE biplot software. The severity of barley leaf rust disease reaction was measured from 0-100 scale, while net blotch disease was scored using double digit scoring (00-99) system. Analysis of variance revealed that barley yields were significantly (p<0.01) influenced by environment (71.3%) followed by GEl (9.0%) and genotype (4%). Barley cross lines (G13, G9, G12, G7 and G8) were desirable in high yielding and stability. G13 (Aruso/EH956/F2-8H-6-4SNRFBC99G0003-21) which showed superior performances in yield and other desirable agronomic traits have been released in 2011 with a common name Abdanne' for commercial production in Mid highlands of Bale. None of the breeding materials showed resistance to net blotch and barley leaf rust diseases whereas landrace selections showed poor yield performance as compared to the barley crosses. The result indicates that the use of local cultivars in barley crossing program as sources of genes is highly important to improve the yielding potential of barleys. © 2011 Academic Journals Inc.