The tillering pattern in barley varieties: I. Production, survival and contribution to yield by component tillers

Abstract

SUMMARY Two field experiments have been conducted to investigate the pattern of tillering, ear emergence and survival of the component tillers of three barley varieties, representing old and new varieties. The varieties were grown under contrasting nitrogen fertilizer levels and plant spacings. The results reported are for the variety means and variety x nitrogen and variety x spacing interactions. After the main stem (M) the most frequently occurring tiller was the tiller appearing in the axil of the first true leaf (T 2 ), followed by the coleoptile node tiller (T 1 ) and the tiller in the axil of the second true leaf (T 3 ). The T 1 tiller occurred most frequently in the newest variety, Deba Abed, and least in the oldest one, Spratt Archer. Survival rates of the shoots were highest in M, followed by T 2 , T 1 and T 3 . Higher-order tillers occurred relatively infrequently and had low survival rates. M contributed the largest percentage of the grain yield, followed by T 2 , T 1 and T 3 . The 13% grain yield advantage of Deba Abed over Spratt Archer was mainly accounted for by the difference in production by the T 1 tiller. The results are discussed in. relation to the only other known paper on component tillers in barley.