Malting barley in the Northern Urals

Abstract

The article presents the results of studying the yield and grain quality of malting barley varieties grown on different backgrounds of fertilizers. Barley grain is a valuable raw material for the cereal, brewing, and feed processing industries. In the Northern Trans-Urals, barley is the most important forage and food crop. The purpose of the research was to study the effect of increasing norms of mineral fertilizers on the yield and grain quality of malting barley varieties in the conditions of the northern forest-steppe of the Tyumen region. Studies were conducted in 2022 and 2023 with the varieties Acha, Despina, KVS Hobbs, Beatrice. The experiment options included: 1) control without fertilizers; 2) N30P30K30; 3) N60P60K60. The soil cover of the experimental field is leached chernozem, heavy loamy in granulometric composition. The chemical composition of the soil is characterized by an average humus content in the arable layer, an average supply of phosphorus, potassium, low nitrogen and a slightly acidic reaction of the soil solution. The conditions of the 2022 growing season were characterized by high air temperature and sufficient precipitation. Meteorological indicators in 2023 were characterized by excessively high air temperatures and uneven precipitation, which negatively affected the yield of barley varieties. In the conditions of 2022, the varieties showed responsiveness to fertilizers. The greatest increase in yield was obtained against an increased background (N60P60K60): in the Acha variety – 1.48 t/ha; in the Despina variety – 2.71 t /ha, in the KVS Hobbs variety – 2.12 t/ha, in the Beatrice variety - 1.60 t/ha. In 2023, reliable increases from the action of fertilizers were obtained in two varieties – Acha (+0.57 t/ha) and Beatrice (+0.67 t/ha) against an increased background of fertilizers. Barley varieties were characterized by high indicators of grain nature and germination ability. The protein content corresponded to the standards for brewing in the Despina and KVS Hobbs varieties in the version without fertilizers and in the N30P30K30 variant, in the Beatrice variety – in all variants, in the Acha variety – only in the version without fertilizers.