Study on Ethiopian barley landrace diversity

Plant materials used in this study were derived from the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI) barley landrace collection. Accessions were prioritized by completeness of passport data. A collection of 249 barley landraces was selected to cover the entire geographical and agroecological range of barley cultivation in Ethiopia. Landrace accessions were purified in an ear-to-row reproduction in the main season of 2016 in Holeta, Ethiopia. When different morphological types were present whitin a given accession, this was split in as many accessions as types, resulting in 418 purified barley lines derived from landrace accessions. Lines derived from landraces were sided by 40 improved lines, representing all main barley improved lines released for cultivation in the country at the time of the assembly of the panel.