Evolutionary breeding for sustainable agriculture: Selection and multi-environmental evaluation of barley populations and lines

In the manuscript we present the results of a 25 year evolutionary breeding program (EBP) carried out under low-input management condition. During the program, a Composite Cross Populations was developed and multiplied for several years allowing natural selection to occur. After this period, new populations and 13 best lines were selected. Yield performances and stability of selected materials were evaluated in multi-environmental trials for four years under organic and low-input conditions and in comparison with several controls. All the produced data were analysed by using modern and sophisticated statistical (including spatial, AMMI, and factorial regression) analyses. According to our results, the heterogeneous populations and some of the derived lines showed the best combination of yield and yield stability in the tested Environments confirming the utility of EBP for the selection of varieties for sustainable agriculture.