Spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an important food, fodder, and industrial crop. Barley cultivars’ evaluation regarding trait variability using a variation factor further divided them into two groups. The first group included cultivars with a high variation factor (cv > 10%) based on the agronomic traits, viz., sprout density, dry biomass yield, number of plants before harvesting, and grain yield potential. The second group contained all other genotypes with a variation factor (cv = 6%) regarding morpho-physiological variables. These are number of nodal roots (cv = 0.8%–1.6%), flag leaf area (cv = 0.8%–1.6%), total leaf area (cv = 3.4%–5.7%), photosynthetic potential (cv = 0.06%–0.27%), photosynthesis net productivity (cv = 2.7%–5.6%), yielding capacity structural elements (grains per ear [cv = 1.0%–2.0%] and 1000-grain weight [cv = 1.5%–5.6%]). Cultivars Pamyat Raisy (1.8 t ha^-1) and Arna (1.7 t ha^-1) showed a reliable and enhanced yielding capacity compared with the reference cultivar Astana 2000 (1.6 t ha^-1), while other cultivars had an average yield potential (1.6 ± 1.8 t ha^-1).

Keywords: Barley (H. vulgare L.), variability, agronomic traits, morpho-physiological variables, grain yield potential, correlation, factor analysis

Key findings: Barley (H. vulgare L.) cultivars Pamyat Raisy (1.8 t ha^-1) and Arna (1.7 t ha^-1) were superior by the highest grain yield. A correlation was evident between grain yield in the study years with the grains per ear, productive stems, photosynthetic parameters, dry biomass yield, and the number of nodular roots during the “tillering – exit into the tube” period.