Abstract:Resistance to powdery mildew of 127 spring barley varieties was evaluated in 702 official variety trials, using scores from 1 to 9. Trials with sufficient disease severity were only analysed. Varieties possessing the resistance genes Mla7 (Elgina), Ml(Kr) (BR-1519), Mla13 (Koral) and mlo (Forum) were among the most resistant ones. The varieties Diamant, HE-3527, HE-3631, II/61-FUDII and Zefir showed high susceptibility. Fifteen varieties, carrying the genes Mla1, Mla3, Mla6, Mla9, Mla13, Ml(Kr) and Ml(Sc), were in the first years of testing highly resistant, but became susceptible later. The score of the most resistant variety ranged each year from 8.05 to 9.00, only in 1987-1991 it was lower. Since the pathogen population rapidly adapted to most resistance genes in the mid eighties, no resistant variety was found in [1987][1988][1989]. From 1986 to 1995 on average only 6.6% of the tested varieties were resistant, but there was no variety with resistance score above 8.50. High resistance was typical for varieties possessing an effective major resistance gene. Since the resistance of such varieties was not durable, we recommend breeding of varieties with at least two fully effective resistance genes, using molecular markers.