Barley virus resistance ratings out

18 August 2000

Barley virus resistance ratings out

LATEST differences in the tolerances of 22 winter barley varieties to two different types of soil-borne mosaic virus have been announced by Arable Research Centres, ahead of the autumn drilling period for the first time.

As in previous years the HGCA-funded research has shown big variations in performance depending upon where Barley Yellow Mosaic Virus or Barley Mild Mosaic Virus was present, says ARC director Mike Carver.

Where BaYMV was the problem there was a 30% range in yields from the best to the worst. With BaMMV the range was 39%. "This clearly illustrates the penalties of incorrect variety choice and the importance of understanding which virus is present," says Dr Carver.

Angela was top performer irrespective of which virus was present. Siberia, Jackpot, Gleam and Opal also performed relatively well, regardless of whether BaYMV or BaMMV was in the soil.

But while Antonia and Jewel did quite well on a site with BMMV, they yielded poorly when faced with BaYMV. By contrast Fanfare performed better against BaYMV than it did against BaMMV.

Some supposedly susceptible varieties, notably Opal and Intro, did quite well against both viruses, says Dr Carver.

"They are not too far down the list. It shows that just because they are susceptible they have not bombed out. Some susceptible varieties clearly seem to be more tolerant than others." Indeed some can perform better than "resistant" varieties, he notes.