GENETIC STUDY OF BARLEY GERMINATION BEHAVIOUR II. GENERAL AND SPECIFIC COMBINING ABILITY

Ten barley varieties were grouped according to the rate and evenness of germination or “germination behaviour” of their seed. Varieties R1 and S2 constituted the rapid; M3, M4, M5, M6, M6, M7 and M8 the medium; and S9and S10 the slow groups. A diallele crossing test was performed, in which the ten varieties were crossed with each other to produce all possible F1 combinations. The general combining ability and specific combining ability analyses were carried out for each variety. The results are of significance in relation to the breeding of improved malting barley varieties.