Morphological and yield-related traits of semi-dwarf and mid-tall cultivars of spring barley under Southeast Bulgarian conditions

The aim of the present investigation was to study some morphological and yield-related traits of semi-dwarf cultivars compared with mid-tall cultivars of spring barley under the agro-meteorological conditions of Southeastern Bulgaria. The study was conducted in 2018 - 2019 on the experimental field of the Institute of Agriculture - Karnobat, Southeastern Bulgaria. Data for plant height, number of internodes, lengths of the first, second, third and, fourth internode, peduncle length, number of spikes per plant, spike length, number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spike, weight of grains per spike, 1000-grain weight, and weight of grains per plant were recorded. The studied semi-dwarf cultivars showed significantly lower mean values for plant height, number of internodes, length of the first, second, third, and fourth internodes, peduncle length, spike length, number of spikelets and grains per spike, grain weight per spike, and grain weight per plant compared to mid-tall cultivars. No significant differences between semi-dwarf and mid- tall cultivars for the mean number of spikes per plant and 1000-grain weight were found. Higher variation of spike length, plant height, and length of the fourth internode was observed in semi-dwarf than in mid-tall varieties. Grain weight per plant was positively associated with the number of grains per spike and grain weight per spike in semi-dwarf as in mid-tall cultivars.