Genetic parameters and morpho-agronomic characterization of barley in the Brazilian Savannah

Abstract

There is a growing demand for malting barley in the world and the supply relies on introducing the crop into new agricultural regions, such as the Brazilian Savannah. This requires selection for high yield and seed quality, critical factors for the success of commercial production. This study aimed at estimating genetic parameters associated with morpho‐agronomic characterization of 433 preliminarily selected accessions from a worldwide barley collection. The accessions were grown on a limed and fertilized Haplustox soil, using interpolated control experimental design, in the Savannah highlands, in Brazil. High‐magnitude heritability and genetic variation coefficients were found for agronomic traits, allowing the identification of genotypes for crossing schemes to generate high‐yield recombinants. Strong negative correlation between yield and number of days to heading and protein content indicated that selection should be directed at early‐maturity cultivars with desirable malting quality. The method proved efficient and revealed interesting indicators to be considered in barley breeding programmes directed at high‐quality malting production in the tropics. Copyright © 2018 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling

Genetic parameters and agronomic characterization of hulless barley accessions under irrigation in the savanna

“…When h 2 was 95.6% (Table 2), the selection of genotypes with lower values should contribute for more adjusted lineage, once lodged plants are not harvested at the field, taking into consideration the considerable loss of productivity. A similar value was observed by Monteiro et al (2018), however other researches have shown a broad sense heritability lower than 53% (Gut et al 2004;Amabile et al, 2015).…”

“…Values of such magnitude were also reported by Fox (2008), who found out h 2 ranging from 89 to 99% and Amabile et al (2015) who reported a value of 96.67%. Ajith (2009) and Monteiro et al (2018) described values for h 2 superior to 80%.…”

“…Several studies performed in the savanna under irrigation have shown that the PK for barley was over 80%, mainly because of the selection index used in the breeding program at Embrapa Cerrados . However, this index is inferior for hulless barley grown in the savanna under irrigation as stated by the indexes found by Monteiro et al (2018), which were up to 2 %. However, in this study performed at CPAC, high values for PK were found for genotypes CN Cerrado 1 (85.0%) and CN Cerrado 2 (83.3%), being clustered with the covered grain genotype 295418 (82.7%).…”

“…Similar numbers (96% and 92.43%, respectively) was described by Amabile et al (2015). Monteiro et al (2018) in his study found that the heritability was 44.42%. Most of the values for h 2 are high, being therefore favorable for the direct selection.…”

“…The heritability reported for DH was 89.17%, being relatively high (Table 2). Marquez-Cedillo et al (2001) and Monteiro et al (2018) stated values higher than 90% for this trait due to an appropriate environment control. However, other authors reported lower h 2 (Gut et al, 2004) indicating that the accuracy and experimental precision is fundamental for the phenotypic expression and that the selection might not be so effective in determined experimental conditions.…”