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GENETIC DIVERSITY FOR MORPHO-GENETIC TRAITS IN BARLEY GERMPLASM

ZAHEER AHMAD¹, SAIF ULLAH AJMAL², MUHAMMAD MUNIR², MUHAMMAD ZUBAIR¹ AND MUHAMMAD SHAHID MASOOD³

Abstract: Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) germplasm comprising of 133 accessions collected from Pakistan was evaluated for 14 quantitative traits. Significant amount of genetic variation was observed for most of the plant characteristics. All the accessions were grouped into 7 clusters on the basis of morphological similarities. Representative accessions from a cluster of particular group could be chosen for hybridization program. First five principal components having greater than 1 eigenvalue contributed more than 83.40% genetic variation. The PC1 accounted for 33.60% of the total variation. The characters contributing more positively to PC1 were grain yield, 1000 grain weight, heading days, maturity days, plant height, harvest index and biomass. Analysis on the basis of regions revealed that accessions from Northern Areas performed better for early heading, longer grain filling period, broader leaf area, short plant height and number of grains per spike. Long peduncle length was found in accessions from Baluchistan. NWFP material was good for harvest index, 1000 grain weight and tall stature. Scattered diagram based on average regional genetic diversity indicated that material from each region had its own distinctness and grouped them independently. The accessions from Northern Areas were altogether apart from the accessions belonging to NWFP and Baluchistan, while accessions from these provinces were closer to each other. Scattered diagram in relation to altitude showed that barley accessions collected from group 1 (201 to 800 masl), group 4 (2001 to 2600 masl) and group 5 (2601 to 3000 masl) were altogether apart from each other while the group 2 (801 to 1400 masl) and group 3 (1401 to 2000 masl) were closer to each other. The present study provides a comprehensive set of database for the barley accessions from various regions of Pakistan.

¹Crop Sciences Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan.

²Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

³Plant Genetic Resources Program, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Corresponding author: Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan