Assessment of the correlation between grain yield and its components in spring barley on an acidic soil

Abstract

 A field trial was conducted in 2016–2017 to determine the effect of different rates of mineral fertilisers, especially phosphorus, and lime on grain yield, yield components and their correlation in the spring barley cultivars ‘Dunavac’ and ‘Novosadski 456’ under dryland farming conditions at the experimental field of the Secondary School of Agriculture, Kraljevo. The experiment was performed on a very acidic soil (pH_H2O 4.5), in a randomised block design with three replications. Grain yield, stem length, number of spikes m^-2, spike length, number of grains per spike and grain weight per spike increased in response to mineral fertilisers and lime. Both cultivars performed better under mineral fertilisation and liming treatment than under increased phosphorus fertilisation, as the availability of macro- and micronutrients increased with increasing soil pH i.e. due to phosphorus immobilisation in the highly acidic environment. In general, significant positive correlations were observed among yield components, and between grain yield and its components. Grain yield was significantly positively correlated with number of spikes m^-2, spike length, number of grains per spike and stem length. Correlations between grain yield and its components under diverse agroenvironmental conditions can guide the selection of cultural practices as well as the choice of cultivars for unfavourable growing conditions.