Res. on Crops 21 (1) : 36-45 (2020) Printed in India Agro-morphological variability and characters association in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) landraces differing for maturity period ALLO A. DIDO 1, 2, *, DAWIT T. DEGEFU 3 , M. S. R. KRISHNA 2 , B. J. K. SINGH 2 AND KASSAHUN TESFAYE 1 1 Ethiopian Biotechnology Institute P. O. Box 32853, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia *(e-mail : alloaman2010@gmail.com) (Received : January 29, 2020/Accepted : February 20, 2020) ABSTRACT Five hundred eighty-five barley landraces, categorized into three maturity groups i. e. early, medium and late, were assessed for 18 quantitative characters in augmented design with six blocks in 2018 and 2019. The estimates of genetic parameters indicated that values of genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were lower within the individual maturity group for all the characters, except effective tillers per plant in medium group and plant height and grain yield per plant in early group for which the values of these parameters were higher than those calculated on overall basis. Similar trend in the estimates of heritability and genetic advance was observed. Influence of maturity time on correlation was observed in many instances. Significant positive correlation of grain yield per plant with days to ear emergence in late group became non-significant in early group. Its significant negative associations with days to maturity and vegetative period in late group were shifted to significantly positive and non-significant, respectively, in early group. These and several other desirable changes in relationships among characters due to early cultivar development have been observed. Further study of genetic analysis using segregating generation of appropriate material with multi-location testing is suggested. Key words : Barley landraces, correlation, grain filling period, heritability, maturity times 2 KL University, Department of Bio-Technology, Green Field, Vaddeswaram-522502, Guntur District (Andhra Pradesh), India. 3 Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Melkasa Agricultural Research Centre, Plant Biotechnology Research Program, P. O. Box 436, Adama, Ethiopia. INTRODUCTION Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the earlier domesticated cereal crops about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. World- wide it is mainly produced for feeding and malting, however, in Ethiopia, it is a main staple crop and mainly used for human consumption. Barley is the predominant cereal in the highland (>2000 m. a. s. l.) areas and cultivated in some regions in two distinct seasons : belg which is short rainfall period extending from March to April, and meher which is the long rainfall period extending from June to September (Lakew et al., 1997). Barley is cultivated from 1400 to over 4000 m above sea level, and its importance increases in drought-prone areas and at higher elevations (above 2800 m) where poor soil fertility, frost, water logging, and soil acidity and degradation are the major yield-limiting factors (Lakew et al., 1997; Asfaw, 2000; Kebede et al., 2019). It is successfully cultivated in arid climates of the Sahara, the Tibetan plateaus, the highlands of the Himalayas, Andean countries, the tropical plains of India and the mountainous areas of Ethiopia (Purugganan and Fuller, 2009; Abebe et al., 2010; Kebede et al., 2019). Ethiopia, being the second largest barley producer in Africa, next to Morocco, accounted for about 25% of the total barley DOI : 10.31830/2348-7542.2020.006