B. Dyulgerova*, N. Dyulgerov

Institute of Agriculture, 8400 Karnobat, Bulgaria

(Manuscript received 7 February 2017; accepted for publication publication 31 May 2017)

Abstract. Seeds of Hordeum vulgare L. cultivar Izgrev were treated with different concentrations of sodium azide to induce genetic variability for the selection of genotypes with improved traits. After passing through different stages of selection, 18 promising mutants were selected for further studies. Eighteen mutants and their parent and national standard cultivar Veslets were evaluated in Complete Block Design with four replications. The research was conducted in 2013 – 2014 and 2014 – 2015 growing seasons in the experimental field of the Institute of Agriculture Karnobat, Southeastern Bulgaria. The characters studied included days to heading, plant height, lodging, peduncle length, spike length, awn length, spikelet number per spike, grain number per spike, grain weight per spike, 1000 grains weight and grain yield. Wide variation among mutant lines was observed for different traits. Mutant lines M4/16 and M3/14 produced significantly greater grain yield than the parent and standard cultivar. Positive changes in lodging tolerance, grain number per spike, grain weight per spike, 1000 grains weight were also observed. This study showed positive effects in the use of mutation in inducing improvement for grain yield and some yield related traits.