Study of drought resistance of spring barley varieties at the early stages of ontogenesis

The article presents the results of a laboratory study on the drought resistance of spring barley varieties for seed germination and the initial stages of seedling formation in Petri dishes. Four varieties were studied: Finist, Povolzhskiy yantar, Povolzhskiy prize, Volga 49 and a new promising line H 2200/20 for seed germination in sucrose solution of 5%, 10% and 15% concentration. As a result, the variety Finist and Line N 2200/20 were distinguished, this can serve as the starting material for the creation of drought-resistant varieties of spring barley.

Introduction. To date, the introduction of drought-resistant varieties into production is one of the main means in the fight against drought. An important role in increasing the yield and improving the quality of grain crops belongs to breeding for drought resistance. Therefore, breeders are faced with the task of creating varieties of spring barley that are drought-resistant throughout the entire growing season. The aim of the work is to diagnose the drought resistance of spring barley varieties at the initial stage of seed germination.

Object. The object of research is varieties and a new line of spring barley bred by the Samara Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Finist, Povolzhsky Yantar, Povolzhsky 49, Povolzhsky Prize and a new promising Line H – 2200/20.

Materials and methods. The research was carried out in the Samara region in 2022. The assessment of the relative drought resistance of spring barley was carried out according to the method of N. N. Kozhushko. In the control (sucrose-free) variant, distilled water was used for moisturizing, in the experimental variants, a sucrose solution (5, 10 and 15% concentration).

Results and conclusions. Laboratory germination of spring barley seeds on sucrose solutions made it possible to obtain a drought-resistant assessment of varieties. In all studied varieties, a percentage decrease in seed germination was observed with an increase in the concentration of the solution. However, the new Line H 2200/20 showed high laboratory germination – 28% (at 10% concentration of sucrose solution) and 7% (at 15% concentration of sucrose solution). Also, this Line showed the maximum result in terms of the root length index – 0.22 (10% solution concentration) and 0.13 (15% solution concentration). According to the sprout length index, the Finist variety was distinguished at all studied concentrations of sucrose solution – 0.34; 0.14 and 0.06, respectively. Seeds of the Finist variety and the new promising Line H 2200/20 can germinate in conditions of lack of moisture, as they develop a greater absorption capacity than the ability of the external solution to prevent the passage of water. This variety and Line are drought-resistant and can serve as a promising source material for creating drought-resistant varieties.

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