Morphological Diversity in Naked Barley Landraces from North-Western Himalayas of India

The Himalayan barleys. particularly, naked forms, are important phylogenetically and require adequate research and marketing interventions because of their high feed value. In the present study, 84 naked barley landraces mainly from north-western Indian Himalayas comprising three main administrative regions, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal states were characterized for morphological traits. The range and pattern of variations were studied. Jammu & Kashmir accessions were more diverse than Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal accessions. Landraces from mid-elevational zones were relatively more diverse than landraces from lower and extreme high elevational zones in each administrative region. The multilocation evaluation of selected naked barley landraces revealed greater adaptability and potential of Himalayan naked barleys even to non-conventional plain zones for commercial cultivation. The importance of Himalayan naked barleys for agriculture and also their safe conservation ex situ and in situ (on-farm) was suggested.