AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF CROSSES BETWEEN NORDIC AND EXOTIC BARLEYS

Exotic germplasm may be useful for the improvement of agronomic perfor mance of barley breeding material. This study was conducted in order 1 ) to evaluate if it is possible to improve performance of Nordic barle y breeding material by utilizing exotic germplasm sources (unadapted l andraces and H. spontaneum), 2) to evaluate incorporation of exotic ge rmplasm into agenetic base widely adapted to the agro-ecological condi tions of the extreme Scandinavian north as well as to the base adapted to the conditions of the south of this geographical region, and 3) to evaluate whether an index composed of several traits corresponded to 'breeder's phenotypic evaluation' of the progenies. Earliness, straw l ength, number of ears/plant, yield/plant, seed shattering, persistence of awns and an index computed from these traits were studied in Swedi sh and Finnish 4-way crosses along with their adapted parents. Most of the crosses headed earlier than their adapted parents and none of the crosses outyielded the adapted parents. The most favorable frequency distributions for the index were found in the crosses with only cultiv ated barleys as parents. Transgressive segregates were also found in p rogenies with H. spontaneum parents. Incorporation of exotic barleys w as most successful into the local genetic base. Comparisons between in dices and breeder's phenotypic evaluation suggested reconsideration of evaluation methods early in parent development.