Grain morphometry is presently among the main targets of modern barley breeding. Three yield trials with winter barley cultivars were performed in the 2018-2020 period at the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute Fundulea in order to analyze the weight of thousand grains and grain morphometry (grain length, grain width, grain area, grain circularity, grain length-width ratio, and factor form density) of six and two-row registered Romanian winter barley cultivars. Acquired image analysis of grains produced by 25 winter barley cultivars in three years with different grain filling conditions, showed that variation of climatic conditions significantly influenced the thousand grain weight (TGW), grain length (Gl), grain width (Gw), grain area (Ga), grain circularity (Gc), grain length-width ratio (L/W ratio) and factor form density (FFD). The barley cultivars were significantly different for all studied traits, which underlined a high level of diversity. All traits were on average different between six-row and two barley cultivars. TGW was highly correlated to Ga, Gw, and FFD. The PCA analysis revealed that PC1, PC2, and PC3 explain 99.1% of the amount of variation. Our paper provides extended information and the newest grain morphometry insight of an old, oldest, and modern barley germplasm released in three different breeding periods.

Barley remains the fourth most cultivated cereal crop worldwide and is valued for its versatility in malting and brewing, animal feed, human nutrition, and dietary supplements. The identification of genotypes suitable for breeding or specific end-use applications requires multi-environment testing to evaluate agronomic performance, grain quality, and trait stability. In this study, a panel of 50 winter barley genotypes (two-row and six-row) originating from diverse genetic backgrounds was evaluated over three growing seasons (2021–2023) under the environmental conditions of southeastern Romania. Seven traits were analyzed, including three phenological traits (heading time, flowering time and plant height), grain yield, and three quality parameters (thousand-grain weight, protein content, and starch content). Environmental conditions had a strong influence on phenological development and grain yield, whereas grain quality traits showed relatively greater stability, indicating a stronger genetic control. Multivariate analyses (Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Genotype plus Genotype-by-Environment interaction biplot (GGE biplots)) revealed clear relationships among traits and highlighted contrasting adaptive strategies between the two barley types. In two-row barley, genotypes such as Idra and Sandra combined favorable yield performance with stable grain quality traits and therefore represent promising candidates for breeding programs and large-scale cultivation. In six-row barley, SU-Ellen and LG Zebra showed high productivity and strong starch accumulation, making them valuable genetic resources for yield-oriented breeding, although further improvement in nitrogen use efficiency may be beneficial. The 2022–2023 growing season represented the most restrictive environment, emphasizing the importance of stability under stress conditions. Genotypes located close to the Average Environment Coordination axis (AEC axis) during that season, such as Ametist (six-row) and Lardeya (two-row), may represent promising material for breeding programs targeting drought resilience. Overall, the results expand the phenotypic characterization of winter barley germplasm and identify valuable genetic resources that can support pre-breeding efforts and the development of climate-resilient barley cultivars.

Plant genetic resources are considered a treasure trove of valuable, untapped diversity that holds the key to breeding the crops of the future. However, the use of these resources in breeding is often limited due to the lack of comprehensive phenotypic characterization. The present study provides extensive historical phenotypic data from nine genebanks as a MIAPPE compliant data set. We compiled and curated phenotypic data from 43,293 wheat accessions, encompassing 460,399 data points across 52 traits, including the three core traits of plant height, heading time, and thousand kernel weight from seven decades. The exceptional quality of the presented dataset was highlighted by predominantly high heritabilities. Phenotypic data of such quantity and quality is a crucial resource for unlocking the valuable diversity of plant genetic resources for agricultural advancement.

Within temperate climates the frequency and severity of high and low temperature stresses vary with continentality. The current study reports on the assessment of the performance of 49 barley cultivars across four environments. The cultivars stem from 50 years of breeding activities in Romania and Italy, in two temperate climates that differ in continentality. The plants were phenotyped through stress monitoring, measurements of yield and yield related traits as well as laboratory stress tolerance tests. Genotypes for alleles of vernalisation and photoperiod genes were determined. These genes were significantly associated with frost damage in the field and frost tolerance in laboratory tests. Grain yield (GY) was more closely correlated with the number of grain sinks than with the degree of grain filling indicating major limitations in the vegetative growth phase and during grain initiation. High temperature stress during the grain filling phase significantly reduced GY. Frost damage due to freezing temperatures below −10 °C when plants were not protected by snow cover significantly reduced GY of sensitive cultivars. The characterisation of environmental cues that cause stresses with yield penalties as well as the susceptibility of genetically different cultivars lay the ground for future targeted selection.

Grain protein content (GPC) is the main quality trait of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) because this parameter is a decisive component of seed quality for malt industry. Reaching the level of protein concentration required by the raw industry is very difficult, due to the negative correlation with the yield level. Seventeen winter barley genotypes (varieties and breeding lines), created at NARDI Fundulea during 2003-2017, known as having different grain protein contents, were tested with and without nitrogen fertilization in yield trials at NARDI Fundulea in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Weather conditions during the testing period was reflected by the variation of average yield of the trial from 3861 to 7722 kg/ha (unfertilized) and 4748 kg/ha to 9492 kg/ha (fertilized) and of the average grain protein content from 9.6% to 14.8% (unfertilized) and 10.3% to 15.4% (fertilized). Correlation between grain protein content and yield was significantly negative under unfertilized condition in two years (2014 and 2016) and under nitrogen fertilization in 2016 only. The genotypes with higher GPC in the grains and low yield under nitrogen fertilization are not adequate for use in breeding for improved protein content. Positive and negative deviations from the regression of grain protein content on grain yield were found, several varieties and lines combining high yields and high grain protein content and few varieties and lines combining high yields and low grain protein content. Differences between protein contents with and without nitrogen fertilization were smaller in some varieties and new lines and also presented negative deviations. The information obtained in this study might be useful in breeding new varieties combining low grain protein content and high grain yield.

Cereals provide over 50% of the total world crop production, their seeds being an important resource for human and animal feed, as well as for the industry. From these, winter barley is an appreciated crops by farmers due its ability to adapt to less favourable environmental conditions and also give high and economically efficient yields. The barley grain weights (GW) along with grain size are universally considered to be closely correlated with the level of technological quality indicators required by the malt and beer industry. Grain weight is first trait used to classify the barley seed quality. The objective of this paper was to identify genotypic differences between seventeen Romanian winter barley genotypes in grain weight as related with grain yield and GW stability across different management practices. Large differences (8.2-20.8%) were found among the tested varieties and advanced lines for GW stability, underlined by the coefficient of variation (CV%). Based on regressions, varieties and lines can be grouped in more responsive to environments favourable to higher grain weight (winter two row barley lines DH 267-66 and DH 314-1), or able to maintain grain weight in less favourable environments (winter six row barley Ametist, Onix, Lucian and winter two row barley Gabriela varieties). The lack of correlation between GW and CV% and frequency of GW values above 42 g correlated significantly negative with GW average (r = -0.82), indicates that there are possibilities to improve this trait and also to have progress in its stability.