Effect of Residue Management on Barley Production in the Presence of Net Blotch Disease

Abstract

Three residue management schemes were evaluated to determine the effect of barley (Hordeum vulgare L) straw residue on disease incidence and agronomic qualities of two barley cultivars over a 3-yr period. Half of the no-till, one cultivation, or burned plots that were planted with either a leaf spot susceptible or a leaf spot resistant cultivar, were sprayed with several applications of Tilt fungicide (propiconizole-1-[[2-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-propyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-yl]methyl]1H-1,2,4-triazole) at 4 fl oz/acre. The disease resistant cultivar Baronesse had a higher yield than the susceptible cultivar Harrington in all 3 yr by an average of 14 bu/acre. Application of Tilt fungicide had a similar effect on both cultivars and increased the yield of Harrington by an average of 9.6 bu/acre and Baronesse by an average of 9.0 bu/acre. Test weight and percentage plump seed were higher with Baronesse than with Harrington. Percentage seed protein and percentage thin kernels increased with disease susceptibility. Although the experimental design did not allow for direct comparisons among residue management treatments, the impact of residue management tended to vary over the 3 yr. Highest yields were harvested from the burned treatment in 1994 and 1995, while this same treatment produced the lowest yields in 1993.