Comprehensive evaluation of production performance and silage nutritional quality of 18 barley varieties (lines)

To select barley varieties suitable for planting and silage nutritional quality in major agriculturalareas of Henan Province, we conducted a systematic analysis focusing on plant height, production performance and nutritional quality, among other traits. To determine the selected varieties and screen the variety of resources suitable for production in experiments, we performed a grey correlation analysis of multipleyield and quality parameters of 18 barley varieties (lines). Significant differences in plant height and hay yield among barley varieties (P < 0.05) were demonstrated. Among them, Q₈ had the highest height, followed by Q₁₁, and plant height was significantly higher than other varieties examined. Q₁₃ exhibited the highest effective tiller number with respect to the lowest plant heigh, whereas Q₃ exhibited the lowest effective number and hay yield was lower than the other varieties. Hay yield of Q₅ was the highest, to 17.9 t·ha⁻¹, which was significantly higher than that of other barley varieties; the second highest hay yield was exhibited by Q₆. Q₉ has the lowest hay yield but the highest crude protein content. Q₆ exhibited the best performance with respect to digestible dry matter, feed intake and relative feeding value, as well as the lowest neutral detergent fiber content. Comprehensive evaluation based on grey correlation statistical analysis revealed that Q₅ and Q₆ were more suitable for cultivation as barley silage varieties in the test area.