Sintayehu Daba

Variability and Character Association in Barley (Hordeum Vulgare L.): for Yield and Yield Related Traits Sintayehu Daba

Among the characters studied, harvest index, number of kernels per spike, biomass yield, and 1000-kernel weight were more heritable, high in variability and genetic advance compared to grain yield with somehow good association with grain yield, with the first two of these traits has positive association with each other while the last two traits were also positively correlated with each other. However, the associations among the two groups were negative. Hence, it is important to compromise selection among these traits to take care of the negative correlations among them and to bring about sufficient improvement in grain yield. Generally, selection for good biomass yield with increased harvest index, and restricted selection for number of kernels per spike and 1000-kernel weight could be useful as indirect selection criteria for improving grain yield.