Thirty cultivars and experimental strains of winter barley (Hordeum vulgare) were grown on acid, aluminum‐toxic soils treated with two rates of lime in greenhouse tests and three rates in field tests. The objectives were to determine if greenhouse tests could be used for certain phases of breeding for Al‐tolerant barley varieties and to find possible new sources of Al‐tolerant germ plasm.
Dry‐weight yields of top and root growth were determined after 7 weeks in the greenhouse. Grain yields were determined from field plots. Correlation coefficients between root and top yields in the greenhouse were 0.93 for the low lime rate and 0.71 for the high rate. Root and top yields at the low lime rate in the greenhouse were highly correlated with grain yield in the field with no lime added (r = 0.77 and 0.66, respectively) but there was no significant correlation between the same measurements at the high lime levels.
Results of these studies indicate that plant populations of barley can be initially screened for Al tolerance in pots of Al‐toxic soil in a greenhouse. Al tolerance is apparently genetically controlled.
Experimental lines derived from backcrossing to A1‐tolerant parents were also tolerant. Selection for A1 tolerance in a mixed population on acid, A1‐toxic soil in the field was demonstrated.
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