Breeding spring barley for ecological plasticity and adaptability in the North-Western Region

¹ Leningrad Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture BELOGORKA, Belogorka village, 188338 Leningrad region, Russia
² Saint-Petersburg State Forest Technical University named after S.M. Kirov, 194021 Saint Petersburg, Russia

^* Corresponding author: stown200@mail.ru

Abstract

Creation of productive and plastic varieties of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) resistant to adverse weather factors will improve the efficiency of grain production in conditions of low fertility of sodpodzolic soils in the Leningrad region in Russia. The purpose of the study was to determine the environmental plasticity and adaptation features of the new line of spring barley in comparison with the standards: Suzdalets variety (nutans variety) and Leningradsky variety (pallidum variety). The main abiotic stressors for spring barley plants are increased acidity and low supply with plant nutrients, drought followed with excess moisture at the end of the growing season. Field, laboratory, and statistical methods generally accepted for these studies were used in this work. Using the ecological plasticity index (Isp) and the generative to reproductive organs length ratio ds /dk simplifies the task of evaluating hybrids, lines, and varieties. Genotype-environment interaction is a complex process both in its nature and in intensity. The selection of promising variety samples is aimed at isolating genotypes for which the influence of this interaction is minimal. Of particular importance in the selection of spring barley is the creation of varieties with a genetically determined mechanism of protection against adverse environmental factors.