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

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters and to agronomically characterize 18 accessions of hulless barley and three references of covered barley grains belonging to the Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia germplasm bank, using ten agronomic quantitative traits. The experiment was performed at two sites in Distrito Federal, in May 2012, using the experimental design of randomized blocks with three replicates. The evaluated characteristics were: estimated grain yield, plumpness kernel, thousand seeds weight, plant height, lodging, days to heading, hectoliter weight, and grain protein content. The obtained data were subjected to the variance analysis and the grouped means by Scott-Knott test. Significant differences at 1% of probability were found among the accessions for all the evaluated traits. It is possible to obtain genetic gains due to the high values of the genotypic coefficient of variation. High heritability in the broad sense was observed for all the characteristics, except for protein content, enabling the effective selection of traits of interest from the parents to the descendants. The accessions CI 13453, CN Cerrado 1, CN Cerrado 2, CN Cerrado 5 and PI356466 stood out positively among the others to Yield and Lodging.