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Genetic improvement in grain yield, yield components and agronomic traits of spring barley
Genetic improvement in grain yield, yield components and agronomic
traits of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)
H. GRAUSGRUBER, H. BOINTNER, R. TUMPOLD and P. RUCKENBAUER 1
Introduction
Barley breeding in Austria started with the selection of Bohemian and Moravian landraces
for improved malting quality. Around 1875, E. V. PROSKOWETZ became aware
of the excellent malting quality of the barleys from the Moravian Hanna region and
started ear selection. In 1903, E. V. TSCHERMAK combined the best lines into the socalled
‘Kwassitzer Original Hanna Pedigree Gerste’. Because of its excellent malting
quality this cultivar was distributed in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Sweden
and America, and was intensively used by breeders for hybridisation. Tschermak’s
cross with a barley from Anatolia resulted in the cultivar ‘Hanna-Kargyn’, which won
the first prize at the international malting barley exhibition in 1927 in London. In the
1930s and 1940s, ‘Vollkorn’ barleys, selections from ‘Kneifel’, dominated. Breeding
was still done by ear selection of landraces and/or hybridisation between them. Until
1948, no foreign spring barley was registered in Austria. However, in the 1950s
Danish (‘Carlsberg II’), Swedish (‘Weibulls Rika’, ‘Weibulls Herta’) and German cultivars
(‘Heines Haisa’, ‘Firlbecks Union’) replaced Austrian selections because of their
higher yields and better straw stiffness. The percentage of Austrian cultivars decreased
to 5% of the seed market. This dramatic fall led to an intensification of the
activities of Austrian barley breeders and to the beginning of carefully directed hybridisation
and breeding programmes both for the Pannonic and the Baltic climate
Tab. 1: Investigated spring barleys and their main growing period
Growing period Barley cultivars
before 1900 Nürnberg 1, Nürnberg 2, 1877/12, 1877/27, 1877/31
1900-1930 ‘Tschermaks Hanna-Kargyn’, ‘Kneifel’, Tuxer
1930-1960
‘Vollkorn’, ‘Angerner früh’, Tschermaks glattgrannige zweizeilige,
‘Fisser Imperial’, ‘Haisa’
1960-1980 ‘Liechtenstein’, ‘Union’, ‘Martha’, ‘Eura II’, ‘Adora’
1980-2000 ‘Berta’, ‘Ebra’, ‘Viva 1’, ‘Elisa’, ‘Prosa’, ‘Penelope’
1 University of Agricultural Sciences
Dept. Plant Breeding
Gregor-Mendel-Str. 33
A-1180 Vienna, Austria
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