Table 1.

List of evaluated traits

Abbreviation	Trait	Units	Method of measurement
SHO	Time to shooting	Days	Number of days from sowing until first node noticeable 1 cm above tillering node (Z31; Zadoks et al., 1974) for 50% of all plants of a plot.
SEL	Shoot elongation phase	GDD	Time from SHO to HEA.
HEA	Time to heading	Days	Number of days from sowing until first awns are visible (Z49; Zadoks et al., 1974) for 50% of ears on main tillers of a plot.
RIP	Ripening phase	Days	Time from HEA to MAT.
MAT	Time to maturity	GDD	Number of days from sowing until hard dough: grain content firm and fingernail impression held (Z87; Zadoks et al., 1974) for 50% of all plants of a plot.
HEI	Plant height	cm	Average plant height of all plants of a plot at maturity; measured from ground to tip of erected ear (without awns).
EAR	Ears per m2		Number of ears m–2; counted by using a representative 50 cm frame in the centre of a plot and extrapolated to 1 m2.
GNE	Grain number per ear		Number of grains per ear; based on a representative sample of 10 harvested ears and recorded with the MARVIN seed analyser (GTA Sensorik, Neubrandenburg, Germany).
TGW	Thousand grain weight	g	Weight of 1000 grains; extrapolated after harvest with MARVIN seed analyser based on a representative sample of 10 ears. Before, seeds were cleaned and damaged seeds were sorted out.
YLD	Grain yield	dt ha–1	For each plot, total grain yield was calculated based on the yield parameters EAR, GNE, and TGW and extrapolated to dt ha–1.