An evaluation of barley accessions for adaptation to the cereal growing regions of Western Australia, based on time to ear emergence

Abstract

Ear emergence was measured on a wide range of barley accessions for a number of sowing dates in contrasting environments of the Western Australian cereal-growing regions to determine suitable types for (i) early sowing in the low (<400 mm per annum) regions and (ii) barley production in the high rainfall (>450 mm per annum) regions. Accessions were classified into nine groups via cluster analysis using the time to ear emergence at four sites and a range of sowing dates. Australian cultivars were members of the three groups with the shortest mean time to ear emergence, and, on the basis of an optimum time to ear emergence at each site, were shown to be well adapted to a wide range of sowing times and sites. Members of only one other group showed an acceptable level of adaptation across sites and sowing dates, members of the other five groups being suited to early or very early sowings in the high rainfall region only.