Significant Changes in Morphological Traits of 422 Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Varieties with Different Registration

Enhanced grain yield is achieved in barley by developing varieties incorporating grain yield-related and morphological traits derived from different varieties. The evaluation of 28 morphological characteristics of 422 barley varieties was carried out to assess their changes over time from 1973 to 2023. Most barley yield improvement seems to have been achieved by changes in morphological traits where modern varieties out-yielded older varieties for more than 30% (from 1973 to 2023). According to the Pareto chart, the length of the first segment of the rachis was found to be the most important parameter that changed over time, accompanied by the glaucousness of the flag leaf sheath and spiculation of inner lateral nerves of the dorsal side of the lemma of grain. The importance of leaf attitude manipulation towards the erect type was also elucidated, as the erect type is a more desirable trait due to the better photosynthetic activity of the flag leaves. Further, the hairiness of leaf sheaths of the lowest leaves and glauconite of the sheath of the flag leaf, curvature of the first segment of rachis, and anthocyanin coloration of nerves of the lemma of grain were shifted toward stronger expression as years went by. However, in the newer varieties, the anthocyanin coloration of auricles of the flag leaf was weakened with sparser ear density, with shorter length of the first segment of rachis, and weaker speculation of inner lateral nerves of the dorsal side of the lemma of grain.