Yield structure of spring barley varieties Acha, Biom and Olenek in the Republic of Tuva

The purpose of the current work was to study the influence of key yield structure elements of the spring barley varieties on their productivity in the Republic of Tuva. The study was conducted at the experimental steppe plot of the Tuva Research Institute of Agriculture in 2019 to 2021. The objects of the study were the spring barley varieties Acha, Biom, and Olenek. On average, over the years of study, the variety Acha produced 3.9 t/ha, Biom 4.2 t/ha, and Odenek 3.4 t/ha. The spring barley varieties Biom and Olenek being new for the Republic of Tuva, have shown no significant differences from the variety Acha, which is being cultivated in the region, according to such yield structure parameters as grain weight per ear, stem height, and number of productive stems. Maximum values of the trait ‘1000-grain weight’ was noted for the variety Biom, and high values of the trait ‘number of grains per ear’ were demonstrated by the variety Olenek. The conducted analysis allowed establishing the correlation between morphological traits and their significance for the yield formation. In most cases, there was a direct positive correlation between the studied barley productivity indicators. There has been established a reliable positive correlation between productivity and grain weight per ear. The strongest correlation between these traits, on average over three years of research, was 0.84 for the variety Acha, 0.51 for the variety Olenek, and 0.5 for the variety Biom. When grown in the Republic of Tuva, the spring barley variety Acha demonstrated a moderate positive correlation between productivity and stem length, ear length, and number of grains per ear, as well as a high positive correlation between productivity and ear weight. The varieties Biom and Olenek have demonstrated a positive correlation between productivity and grain weight per ear, and a negative correlation between productivity and 1000-grain weight. These direct and indirect indicators and the calculated regression coefficients may be important when selecting barley varieties for cultivation in extreme continental climate.