Correlated Response for Salt Resistance to Selection for Yield in Three Intervarietal Crosses of Barley under Salt Affected Soil Conditions

Three crosses of barley involving parents with no previous selection history for yield under salt affected soils, were subjected to modified bulk selection and pedigree selection methods, yielding 75 lines with superior performance as compared to the best checks. It was found from data on eight of these lines that the genetic advance for yield was in certain cases, a more direct result of selection for yield per se, in some others for resistance to soil sodicity and in some still others, for both. Correlated response of yield and resistance, superior g X e interaction of certain yield genes and selection of adapted gene complexes for sodicity stress environment, appear to explain these results. Further, the exploitation of latent genetic variations for previously unselected traits like salt resistance appears possible in barley crosses. The results also throw some light on the role of stress environment and selection method with respect to the nature of lines derived.