Response of Barley Cultivars with Different Growth Habit to Vernalization Periods

Abstract

Vernalization is the need for low temperatures during the early developmental stages in some plants. These plants need to stay at low temperature for a certain period of time in order to make the transition from vegetative to generative stage. This study was conducted to determine the responses of some barley cultivars to vernalization treatments. In the present study, four winter, two alternative and two spring in barley cultivars were used. The experimental design was factorial with three replicates. Germinated seeds of barley varieties were vernalized in small containers containing peat at 2°C for 0, 4, 5 and 6 weeks. Developing seedlings were transferred to pots and grown at a constant temperature of 22°C in 22 hours day/2 hours night. Jointing, heading time, maturity time, number of fertile tillers, number of grains per spike and thousand grain weight were evaluated. The effect of vernalization treatments on all the characters examined varied significantly according to the varieties. The winter cultivars Sladoran, Alba, Dicktoo and Aydanhanım did not head without vernalization. Considering the heading time of these cultivars, it was determined that four weeks of vernalization application was sufficient. In the alternative cultivars Tokak 157/37 and Kearney, four weeks of vernalization resulted in earlier heading of 9 and 40 days, respectively. In spring cultivars, vernalization application did not result in a significant change. Considering the time elapsed during vernalization application, four weeks of vernalization is the most appropriate period for all winter cultivars. Since the vernalization application for alternative cultivars is variable depending on the genotype, it is necessary to determine the vernalization periods in case they are used in breeding programs.