Effect of sowing date on dry matter and nitrogen partitioning and its translocation in winter barley

Understanding the mechanism of dry matter and nitrogen partitioning and its translocation from different plant parts during post-anthesis period on different sowing dates may contribute to further improvement of winter barley productions in the Pannonian Plain. Therefore, a field trial with six two-rowed winter barley cultivars grown on four different sowing dates in two growing seasons was conducted to determine dry matter and nitrogen partitioning in different plant parts, and further role of their translocation in grain yield and nitrogen yield determination. Higher dry matter and nitrogen accumulation on early sowing dates were followed by higher translocation in developing grain. Contribution of pre-anthesis dry matter translocation to grain yield varied from 34.8 to 48.5% among cultivars and 38.44 to 45.0% among different sowing dates. Furthermore, the pre-anthesis reserved N contributed from 53.2% (NS 557) to 66.2% (NS 551) among cultivars, and from 50.7% (early optimal sowing date) to 66.3% (extreme late sowing date) across sowing dates. In order to achieve and maintain high yielding barley production in the Pannonian Plain, barley growers and breeders should focus more on the medium early barley genotypes, such as NS Pinon, with increased dry matter and nitrogen accumulation during pre-anthesis adapted to early sowing.