Genotype by Environment Interaction for Grain Yield of Barley Mutant Lines

The aim of this study was to examine the genotype by environment interaction for grain yield and to identify high-yielding and stable mutant lines of 6-rowed winter barley under different growing seasons. The study was carried out during 7 growing seasons from 2010 – 2011 to 2016 – 2017 in the experimental field of the Institute of Agriculture – Karnobat, Southeastern Bulgaria. Fourteen advanced mutant lines and the check variety Vesletc were studied using a complete block design with 4 replications. The AMMI analysis of variance indicated that 20.54% of the variation for grain yield was explained by the effect of genotype and 37.34% and 42.12% were attributable to the environmental effects and genotype by environment interaction. The magnitude of the genotype by environment interaction was two times larger than that of genotypes, indicating that there was a substantial difference in genotype response across environments. The AMMI and GGE biplot analyses identified G9 as the highest yielding and stable genotype. This mutant line can be recommended for further evaluation for variety release. The mutant lines G6, G13 and G15 were suggested for inclusion in the breeding program of winter barley due to its high grain yield and intermediate stability.