Use of Safety First Rule in Selecting Stable Barley Cultivars

The presence of genotype environment interaction is of major concern to plant breeders, since large interactions can reduce gains from selection and complicate identification of superior cultivars. In order to attain sustainability in barley productivity, the Safety First Rule was used in 10 barley cultivars tested in two locations for four years (1984-1987). An Index that incorporated mean yield and stability was developed for each of the four different definitions of stability. B3072 was identified as a superior cultivar with the highest mean yield of 2.95 t ha^-1 and ranked first by all the four selection indices. The line B3072 was released as Kibo in 1991 and the usefulness of the Safety First selection rule in situations where poor yields have severe adverse consequences has been realized.