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Variability, heritability and genetic advance for some yield and yield related
traits in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) genotypes in arid conditions

Article  in  Journal of Food Agriculture and Environment · September 2012

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Meri-Rastilantie 3 B, FI-00980 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment Vol.10 (3&4): 626-629. 2012 www.world-food.net
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Variability, heritability and genetic advance for some yield and yield related traits in
barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) genotypes in arid conditions
Rao Wali Muhammad 1*, Abdul Qayyum 2, Shoib Liaqat 3, Amir Hamza 1, Malik Muhammad Yousaf 1 Bashir
2
Ahmad 1, Jahangir Shah 1, Mumtaz Hussain 1 , Ahmad Naveed Ahsan 4, Sajjad Hussain Qurashi and
2, 1
Etrat Noor
1
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan. 2 Faculty of Agricultual Sciences and Technology Bahauddin
Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan. 3Regional Research Institute BahawalPur. 4Pest Warning and Quality Control.
* e-mail: raoqayyim@bzu.edu.pk
Received 18 June 2012, accepted 30 September 2012.

Abstract
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), an important cereal crop in the world, is cultivated in temperate climatic zones. Assessment of genetic variability and
heritability within barley is fundamental tool for the success of barley breeding program. The current study was made to work out the heritability and
genetic diversity among seven barley genotypes. Data on eight morphological traits, i.e. plant height (PH), flag leaf area (FLA), number of tillers per
plant (NTP), spike length (SL), number of spikelets per spike (NSPK), number of kernels per spike (NKSP), hundred kernel weight (HKWT) and
kernel yield per plant (KYP) were collected and analysed. Phenotypic coefficient of variability (PCV) was higher than genotypic coefficient of
variability (GCV) for all the traits. Estimates of broad sense heritability for kernel yield per plant (KYP) and number of kernels per spike (NKSP)
were 99.11% and 98.96%, respectively, coupled with high value of genetic advance. High amount of broad sense heritability with higher value of
genetic advance provided the evidence that these plant attributes might be under the control of additive genetic effects and selection breeding can be
beneficial for improvement of barley genotypes.

Key words: Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), analysis of variance, genotypic correlations GCV, PCV, genetic advance, heritability.

Introduction Materials and Methods

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) belongs to the genus Hordeum, in
tribe Triticeae of the family Poaceae 16. It is included as the fourth
agricultural commodity in India and Pakistan after wheat, rice and
maize. Being an important food crop of Pakistan, it is cultivated
over an area of 86 thousand hectares with an annual production
of 83 thousand tons 6. It is a renowned crop grown over a wide
range of agro climatic locations for food, feed and forage. It has
also medicinal value due to presence of beta-glucan (an anti
cholesterol substance). Acetylcholine carbohydrate substance
which nourishes our nervous system and restore memory loss,
easy digestibility due to low gluten content and high lysine,
thiamin and riboflavin render cooling and soothering effect in the
body. Its alternate uses in malt and beer industry and health tonics
have proved that barley is an important crop of present era. In
order to launch a sound breeding program, it is essential to have
an idea of the nature and magnitude of variability, heritability and
genetic advance in respect of breeding material in hand. The
concept of heritability explains whether differences observed
among individuals arose as a result of differences in genetic make
up or due to environmental forces. Genetic advance gives an idea
of possible improvement of new population through selections,
when compared to the original population.
This study was conducted with the objective to estimate the
extent of genetic variability and expected genetic advance existing.
The proposed study was carried out at research area of Arid Zone
Research Institute, Bahawalpur, Pakistan Agricultural Research
Council, situated at latitude 29.22o, longitude 71.38o and altitude
367 ft, with the field temperature ranging between 6oC to 40.7oC,
relative humidity between 76.5% to 80.4% and rainfall between 6
to 13 mm, during 2008. The experimental material used in this study
included seven new advance elite genotypes of barley (Table 1),
which were collected from National Agriculture Research Centre,
Islamabad, Pakistan, and evaluated in randomised complete block
design with three replications during rabi season 2008. Each
genotype was grown in 4 rows of 4 m long bed with spacing of 25
cm between the rows. An approximate distance of 10 cm was
maintained between plant to plant by hand thinning. Five
competitive random plants from middle row of the experimental
plot were taken for recording the observation on plant height (cm)
(PH), flag leaf area (cm2) (FLA), number of tillers per plant (NTP),
spike length (cm) (SL), number of spikelets per spike (NSPK),
number of kernels per spike (NKSP), hundred kernel weight (g)
(HKWT) and kernel yield per plant (g) (KYP) as listed in Table 2.
Heritability in broad sense was calculated as the ratio of the
total genetic variance to the phenotype variance. Expected genetic
advance was calculated following Johnson et al. 15. Variation is
the basis for differences between individuals due to variation in
their genetic composition and/or the environment. Heritable

626 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.10 (3&4), July-October 2012
Table 1. Description of breeding material used and high estimates were found in different plant characters.
in the experiment. Highest estimates of heritability were in KYP (0.9911), NKSP
Sr.No. Accession No. Accession Name (0.9896) and NTP (0.9836) and with many characters except PH
1 V1 B-05011 (0.7720). Values of genetic advance ranged between 22.83 for
2 V2 B-05001 NKSP and 0.9517 for HKWT. Greater magnitude of broad sense
3 V3 NRB-31 heritability coupled with higher genetic advance in characters
4 V4 NRB-37 under study provided the evidence that these plant characters
5 V5 HAIDER-93
6 V6 SOORAB-96 were under the control of additive genetic effects. Similar results
7 V7 FRONTIER-87 have been reported by Aidun 2 and Vimal 22. Such estimates of
genetic advance indicated that moderate gains could be achieved
Table 2. List of characters with the abbreviations used. with strengthening the selection. High variation was observed
Serial No Abbreviations used Name of Characters for all the characters. However, the estimates of heritability with
01 PH Plant height low genetic advance were detected for SL and HKWT. The traits
02 FLA Flag leaf area with possessing low genetic advance with high heritability
03 NTP Number. of tillers per plant
04 SL Spike length indicates the presence of non additive gene action, thus simple
05 NSPK Number of spikelets per spike selection procedure in such characters will not be effective for
06 NKSP Number of kernels per spike screening of the desirable traits. The coefficient of variability (CV)
07 HKWT Hundred kernel weight was in the range from 6.09 to 12.44 which indicated the consistency
08 KYP Kernel yield per plant
in experimental conditions.

variation is useful for permanent genetic improvement 19. A major
factor limiting the rate of progress in plant breeding has been low
heritability of quantitative traits such as yield. Heritability in broad
sense estimates the relation of total genetic variance, including
additive, dominance and epistatic variance, to the phenotypic
variance 13, 18. The most important function of the heritability in
the genetic study of the quantitative traits is the predictive role to
indicate the reliability of the phenotypic values as a guide to
breeding value 9, 13.
Results and Discussion
Data was recorded on eight characters and plot and error variance
showed that the error mean squares were homogeneous only for
plant height (cm), flag leaf area (cm2), no. of tillers per plant, spike
length (cm), no. of spikelets per spike, no. of kernels per spike,
hundred kernel weight (g) and kernel yield per plant (g) for which
combined analysis of variance was done (Table 3). Data were
recorded on plot and thousand kernel weight,while the other
characters were taken on plant basis by considering plants from
each plot. Analysis of variance done after subjecting mean values
of the recorded relative efficiency of lattice design was very similar
with randomized complete block (RCB) design data analysed as
per RCB design 8.
The phenotypic (rp) and genotypic (rg) variances were estimated
according to the method suggested, broad sense heritability (h2)
was estimated as shown in Table 3 3.
Broad sense heritability, coefficient of variability and genetic
advance were also computed for all eight characters where medium
Genotypic and phenotypic correlation: The correlation studies
were initiated with the objective of observing the mutual
relationship among various characters and also the type and extent
of the contribution to yield 7, 17. Genotypic and phenotypic
correlations observed among eight characters are presented in
Tables 4 and 5, respectively, in which positive and significant
genotypic correlations were observed between the pairs of traits,
i.e. FLA with PH, and positive and non significant phenotypic
correlation was observed between the pairs of traits, i.e FLA and
PH. Genotypically NTP was not significant and positively
correlated with PH but negative and not significant with FLA
while phenotypically these are also non significant but NTP was
positively correlated with PH and negatively with FLA.
Genotypically SL was not significant and positively correlated
with FLA but positive and significant with PH and NTP.
Phenotypically SL is positive and not significant with PH and
NTP but not significant and negatively correlated with FLA.
Genotypically NSPK is significant and positively correlated with
PH, FLA and SL but not significant and positively correlated with
NTP. Phenotypically NSPK is not significant and negatively
correlated with PH, FLA and NTP but highly significant and
positively correlated with SL. NKSP positive and significant
genotypic correlation was observed between the PH, FLA, SL
and NSPK but negative and not significant with NTP while
phenotypically NKSP is not significant but positively correlated
with PH and FLA and highly significant and positively correlated
with SL and NSPK but not significant and negatively correlated
with NTP. Positive and significant genotypic correlation was

Table 3. Means and analysis of variance for 08 yield traits among 07 genotypes of Hordeum
vulgare L.
Parameters M S(R) M S(V) M S(E) M ean+-SE h2 GA CV (%)
PH 13.107 116.543** 26.570 84.619+-0.0296 0.7720 6.7365 6.09
FLA 0.103 14.410** 0.233 7.186+-0.0798 0.9838 3.0187 6.71
NTP 0.333 56.971** 0.933 7.238+-0.0401 0.9836 6.0010 13.35
SL 0.619 6.705** 0.602 6.238+-0.1192 0.9102 1.9049 12.44
NSPK 0.048 55.986** 1.648 14.524+-0.0406 0.9706 5.8699 8.84
NKSP 0.762 800.371** 8.362 38.238+-0.0107 0.9896 22.6283 7.56
HKWT 0.134 1.579** 0.100 4.549+-0.2439 0.9369 0.9517 6.94
KYP 0.042 36.196** 0.322 7.332+-0.0502 0.9911 4.8197 7.74

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.10 (3&4), July-October 2012 627
Table 4. Genotypic correlation (rg) among barley genotypes.
Traits PH FLA NTP SL NSPK NKSP HKWT KYP
PH 1 0.2427* 0.0358 0.3728* 0.0660* 0.0880* 0.1371 0.2237
FLA 1 -0.1147 0.1247 0.2211* 0.2789* 0.0242 0.2054*
NTP 1 0.2750* 0.0200 -0.0229 0.2253* 0.7608*
SL 1 0.5787* 0.4466* -0.3061 0.4458*
NSPK 1 0.9451* -0.5811 0.4292*
NKSP 1 -0.7205 0.4069*
HKWT 1 -0.1863
KYP 1

Table 5. Phenotypic correlation (rp) among barley genotypes.

Traits PH FLA NTP SL NSPK NKSP HKWT KYP
PH 1 0.2423 0.0348 0.2678* 0.1081 0.0884 0.1223 0.1965
FLA 1 -0.1106 -0.1200 0.2279 0.2806 0.0287 0.1985
NTP 1 0.2672* 0.0249 -0.0247 0.2159 0.7520**
SL 1 0.5372** 0.4207** -0.2885* 0.4234
NSPK 1 0.9342** -0.5647** 0.4151**
NKSP 1 -0.7006** 0.3969**
HKWT 1 -0.1713
KYP 1

shown between HKWT with PH and FLA, negative and non high for NTP and SL but low for PH and FLA, and suggested that
significant with SL, NSPK and NKSP but significant and positively environmental manipulation may be effective for bringing about
correlated with NTP while HKWT positively and not significantly favorable change in expression of these characters. Similar views
with PH, FLA and NTP but significant and negatively correlated were also reported by Delogu et al. 11 and Sinha 20.
with SL and negative and highly significant with NSPK and NKSP
from phenotypic point of view. Genotypically KYP is not significant Conclusions
and positively correlated with PH but KYP is positive and not Phenotypic coefficient of variability (PCV) was higher than
significant with PH while significant with FLA, NTP, SL, NSPK genotypic coefficient of variability (GCV) for all the traits. Estimates
and NKSP and not significant and negatively correlated with of broad sense heritability for kernel yield per plant (KYP) and
HKWT. Phenotypically KYP is not significant and positively number of kernels per spike (NKSP) were 99.11% and 98.96%,
correlated with PH, FLA and SL but not significant and negatively respectively, coupled with high value of genetic advance. High
correlated with HKWT while highly significant and positively amount of broad sense heritability with higher value of genetic
correlated with NTP, NSPK and NKSP. Positive and significant advance provided the evidence that these plant attributes might
correlations in maize were reported for KYP in combination with be under the control of additive genetic effects and selection can
HKWT 1, LA 14 and PH 5, 10, at phenotypic level, as well as at be beneficial for improvement of barley genotypes.
genetic additive level which are not in accordance to Dutu 12.
In the present investigation the phenotypic coefficient of Acknowledgements
variability (PCV) was higher than genotypic coefficient of Dr. Iftakhar Ahmad, Chairman PARC gratefully acknowledges
variability (GCV) for all the characters studied (Table 6). financial support from Pakistan Agriculture Research Council,
Environmental coefficient of variability (ECV) was less in both the Government of Pakistan, for carrying out these studies. We are
parameters, i.e PH and FLA. A perusal of coefficient of variability also grateful to Dr. Rao Iftikhar Ahmad, Dr. Rao Asif Ali, Dr. F. M.
indicates that PCV was quit higher for NTP and KYP. PH and Azhar and Dr. Saleem Khan; Dept of Plant Breeding and Genetics,
HKWT showed considerable low variability, which indicates a University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, for extending the technical
little opportunity for improvement through selection. This knowledge and support regarding the particular studies. We are
observation is in agreement with the result of Andonov et al. 4 also thankful to Dr. M. Shahid Massood, Director, Institute of
and Sundeep 21. Genotypic coefficients of variability (GCV) for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resourses, NARC,
NTP and KYP were high where PH was recorded low. ECV was Islamabad, due to very kindly supplied seed of barley accessions.
Thanks also to Dr. Sohail, Department of Statistics, for providing
the statistical computer programs.
Table 6. Estimates of genotypic, phenotypic and
environmental coefficients of variability of
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