Diversity and resistance components analysis of barley landraces to barley shoot fly (Delia flavibasis)

Abstract

Barley shoot fly (Delia flavibasis) is one of the destructive insect pests of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) at seedling stage. Resistance to barley shoot fly is governed by complex traits that derived from both morphological and/or biochemical characters of the plant. These host plant characters influence the relative degree of damage caused by the insect. The study aimed to evaluate phenotypic variability and interrelationships of factors influencing barley shoot fly resistance. Five hundred eighty-five landraces and ten cultivars were tested at Sinana Agricultural Research Center on station and Goba on-farm, during 2018 and 2019 main cropping seasons using augmented design consisting six blocks. High heritability percentage was obtained for yield and shoot fly resistance components like biomass (95.38%), early seedling growth vigour (91.41%), total tillers plant−1 (89.41%), fertile tiller plant−1 (88.91%), seedling colour (85.36), plant height (82.83%), 1000 seed weight (82.53%), number of seeds spike−1 (81.80%), spike length (81.11%), oviposition (65.74%) and dead heart (61.26%). Thus, this study revealed the presence of sufficient variability among the barley landraces in the country that can be exploited for germplasm enhancement. Furthermore, the defensive characters of accessions for shoot fly strongly influence the oviposition and dead heart percentage.