Relationship between grain yield and agronomic traits in winter barley

Grain yield is one of the most important and complex traits in cereal breeding and depends upon a combination of different plant traits. Therefore, an effective breeding program requires a proper understanding of the relationships between grain yield and agronomic traits. The objectives of this study were the evaluation of two-rowed winter malting barley genotypes and the perceiving of relationships among grain yield and their agronomic and quality traits. The trials with 19 two-rowed winter malting barley genotypes were conducted during three years. The relationships among plant lodging, height, thousand kernel weight, hectolitre mass, grain protein content and grain yield, were studied by PCA biplot analysis. The results showed that the influence of year, genotype and genotype by year interaction on barley grain yield were significant. Further, results indicate that two-rowed winter malting barley grain yield can be improved by selecting plants of average plant height with thousand kernel weight above 41.0 g and grain protein content of about 11.0 g 100-1g dm.