Response of common barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) physiological parameters to agricultural practices and meteorological conditions

Abstract

Little is known about the response of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) physiological parameters to stand density, on which barley productivity depends. The aim was to establish the contrasts of physiological parameters between the different varieties and different stand densities under field conditions and the interaction between physiological parameters and meteorological factors of Lithuania (East Europe). The test involved three barley varieties and three stand densities. The measurements were made three times during the growing season. Varietal and stand density effect on photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and instantaneous water use efficiency was more strongly expressed in wet conditions compared with dry conditions. The spring barley varieties differed in the tolerance of meteorological factors throughout the growing season. The photosynthetic process was more intensive for the variety ‘Barke’ in dry and for ‘Gustav’ in wet weather conditions conditions. A medium density of 400 plants m -2 was the optimum. With the change in stand density, physiological parameters tended to decrease in most of the tested cases. The interaction of meteorological factors influenced the mean of photosynthetic rate across stand densities by 52.1, 67.1 and 73.6 % and the mean of transpiration rate by 63.3, 61.1 and 72.0 % for ‘Aura DS’, ‘Barke’ and ‘Gustav’, respectively.