Duration of the “sprouting – earing” period and yield capacity of spring barley cultivars in the eastern forest-steppe of Ukraine
Goal. To determine the influence of weather conditions on the “sprouting-earing” period duration in spring barley accessions and its relationship to yield capacity and to identify valuable genotypes by a set of economic features in the eastern forest-steppe of Ukraine.Results and discussion. 298 barley accessions from 20 countries were studied. The correlation coefficients between the “sprouting-earing” period duration and yield for each year showed a positive medium correlation in 2016 (r = 0.54); positive below medium correlations in 2011 (r = 0.15), 2012 (r = 0.21), 2014 (r = 0.14), 2015 (r = 0.21), and 2017 r. (r = 0.24); and negative weak correlations in 2010 (r = -0.07) and 2013 (r = -0.24). Accessions with a set of valuable economic features with various “sprouting-earing” period durations (from 36 to 49 days) were singled out. These are Ukrainian accessions Skhidnyi, Baskak, Hermes, Svarozhich, Podyv, Khors, Balzam, Avhur, MIP Myrnyi, MIP Sotnik, Talisman Myronivskyi; Russian accessions Abalak, Karat, Yaromir, Kredo; Belarusian accession Fest; Germany; German accessions Grace, Henrike, KWS Aliciana, KWS Bambina; Netherlandish accession Gladys; Kazakhstani accessions Azik, Ilek-16.Conclusions. Thus, an insignificant positive relationship between the “sprouting-earing” period duration and yield in 2010-2017 was revealed. Spring barley accessions, which are valuable starting material for creating new cultivars with a set of important economic features, were identified. They can increase the breeding efficiency and accelerate the breeding process.