Application of biomass sensor in the winter barley selection

Remote sensing by acquirement of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is widely used nowadays for assessing crop biomass, yield and other traits. This study aimed to determine the variation of NDVI and its relationship with the most significant agronomic properties of 20 elite winter barley genotypes. NDVI measurements were conducted at several vegetation stages while grain yield, hectoliter and lodging were the observed traits. Results from this study showed that the influence of genotype varied significantly for grain yield and hectoliter, especially when measured biomass displayed a successive rise of genotypic variability after the onset of booting towards anthesis which was confirmed by correlation. Therefore, significant genotypic variation of NDVI values could be efficiently used for indirect identification of productive winter barley genotypes.