Abstract
In Ethiopia, barley selection has focused on grain yield traits. Limited information is available on straw yield and its nutritive value. The aim of this study was to screen cultivars for grain and straw yield and nutritive value using forty cultivars of food and malt barley types at two locations in Ethiopia (Bekoji and Kofele) in 2018. Food-fodder quality traits investigated were crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and metabolizable energy (ME) of grain and straw. Location, cultivar and their interaction affected the performance in malt as well as food barley types. Wide cultivars differences were observed within food and malt types respectively: Grain CP: 10.2-12.2% and 11.4.1-13.3%, grain NDF: 40-2-52.7% and 38-42.9%, grain ME: 9.9-12.3 MJ/kg and 12.1-14.5 MJ/kg, straw CP: 4.1-5.7% and 4.9-6.2%, straw NDF: 73.5-76.7% and 72.9-76.1%, straw ME: 5-5.6 MJ/kg and 5.3-5.8 MJ/kg. Across locations, IBON174/03 produced most grain (6.95 t/ha), traveller produced most straw (9.1t/ha) and HB1963 was relatively high in both straw 8.4 t/ha and grain yield 6.4 t/ha, making it an interesting food-feed cultivar. Therefore IBON174/03, traveller and HB1963 are promising barley cultivars for the study area. Key words: Food-feed, cultivar, barley, straw.
Highlights
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the fourth most important cereal crop in terms of worldwide grain production (FAOSTAT, 2017)
The experiment comprised of twenty food and twenty malt improved cultivars drawn from National Variety traits (NVT) of the Ethiopian Barley improvement program
The highest grain yield was recorded for cultivars IBON174/03 (6.9 t/ha), USDF5-27 (6.5 t/ha) and IBON-HI13/14-49 (6.4 t/ha), and the lowest yield was recorded for cultivar IBON-HI14/15-126 (5.2 t/ha) (Table 2)
Summary
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the fourth most important cereal crop in terms of worldwide grain production (FAOSTAT, 2017). The developing countries contribute to more than half of land area planted with barley crops. Barley is a multiple-purpose crop with high economic and social importance. It is grown to produce grain for human and straw for livestock consumption and malt for brewing (Kaso and Guben, 2015). Growing barley is associated with a production of large quantities of straw which is used extensively as ruminant feed specially in developing countries during dry seasons.
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