Genetic Studies of Winter Hardiness in Barley

An important obstacle toward the development of winter barley varieties with a higher level of winter hardiness has been the deficiency of genetic information on this character. The primary objective of these studies was to obtain information on the genetics of the winter hardiness of a group of 18 winter barley varieties which originated from widely different geographic areas of the world. It was hoped that this information might be helpful in determining whether or not it would be possible for barley breeders to combine different genetic sources of winter hardiness and attain a higher level of hardiness than presently exists