Study of Drought Susceptibility Index for Grain Yield and Associated Traits in Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Genotypes under Limited Moisture condition of Rajasthan

Abstract

Drought is one of the most common abiotic stresses, posing a major challenge to sustainable food production, as it can reduce the potential yield by up to 70% in crop plants. In arid and semi-arid regions, either reduction in water supply in soil or high transpiration can cause drought experience in crops. It has been reported that drought stress could reduce grain yield by 49–87% in barley. Drought occurs in all climatic regions and 16.2-41.2% of arable land worldwide is considered as drought-prone area. Drought continues to be an important challenge to agricultural researchers and plant breeders. It is assumed that by the year 2025, around 1.8 billion people will face absolute water shortage and 65% of the world’s population will live under water-stressed environments. It is one of the consequences of climate change that has a negative impact on crop growth and yield. It is extremely important to improve essential crops to meet the challenges of drought stress which limits crop productivity and production. The overall ranking indicated that parents DWRUB 64, BH 946, RD 103 and RD 2592, were found the most desirable parents as they possessed high drought tolerance for most of the studied characters. Among the F1 crosses BH 946 × PL 426, BH 946 × RD 103, RD 2592 × PL 426, PL 426 × RD 2052, PL 426 × RD 103 and RD 2592 × RD 2035 and in F2 crosses RD 2592 × PL 426, DWRUB 64 × DWRB 137, PL 426 × RD 103, PL 426 × RD 2508 and RD 103 × RD 2052 were found to be desirable for most of the studied characters. An overall evaluation in limited moisture environment revealed that the crosses RD 2592 × PL 426 and PL 426 × RD 103 were found more desirable as they possessed high drought tolerance for most of the studied traits across the generations.