Abstract
This study researched how the age of winter barley affects the plant’s resistance to snow injury. Two experiments were conducted for the study. The first experiment focused on the change in resistance to snow rot disease, and the second experiment tested plant viability under cold, dark, and wet conditions. The resistance of the third-leaf stage plant to snow rot disease was higher than that of the first- or second-leaf stage plant. The penetration and development of snow rot disease were restricted to the young leaf blade of the old plants. The high resistance of the young leaf might be one of the reasons for the high resistance observed in old plants. The viability of the old plants under cold, dark, and wet conditions was higher than that of young plants. The resistance to snow rot disease and the viability under cold, dark, and wet conditions of the plant in the first-leaf unfolded stage were higher than that of the plant in the first-leaf stage. These results demonstrat that both resistance to snow rot disease and viability under cold, dark, and wet conditions are causes for change in resistance to snow injury with plant age.
