Abstract
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an annual cereal crop that belongs to the grass family Poaceae of the tribe Triticeae. Due to the establishment and production capacity of malt and beer factories in Ethiopia, malt barley production demand increased from time to time. Eight released malt barley varieties were evaluated in four environments in Wag-himra and Lasta districts in the main production season for two years (2016 and 2017). The objective of the trial was to identify a high yielder and standard-quality malting barley variety for production. The trial was conducted using a randomized complete block design with three replications on a plot size of 1.2 m width with that of 2.5 m length. The results revealed that there was a highly significant difference in grain yield and quality traits ( p < 0.05 ). The kernel protein and starch content of the varieties ranged from 9.85 to 11 and 63–65%. The thousand kernel weight of the varieties was in the range of 32.5 to 46.4 g. EH1847 (3340 kg ha−1), IBON174/03 (3351 kg ha−1), and Bahati (3220 kg ha−1) were the first three best performing high yielder and best varieties that fulfilled quality parameter requirements set by the National Standard Authority for malting barley. Therefore, these varieties are recommended for production in the Wag-himra and Lasta agroecologies for their high yield, kernel size, and kernel protein content. Further study is required on agronomic practices and brewing quality attributes in malt barley.
Highlights
Barley (Hordeum vulgare spp. vulgare L.) is one of the oldest crops cultivated in the world
It is the fifth most important cereal crop after teff, wheat, maize, and sorghum in area coverage in the country [4]. e crop is predominantly categorized as food and malting barley based on their uses [5]. e share of malting barley production is quite low as compared to food barley in Ethiopia [2] despite the country having favorable environment and potential market opportunity
Mean grain yield of malting barley varieties ranged from 1853 kg ha−1 for Holker to IBON174/03, (3351 kg ha−1) (Table 3). e mean grain yield over all the varieties was 2868 kg ha−1
Summary
Barley (Hordeum vulgare spp. vulgare L.) is one of the oldest crops cultivated in the world. E crop is an important feed, malt, and food crop in Russia, Canada, Australia, Ukraine, Turkey, Spain, Morocco, Germany, Kazakhstan, Iran, Syria, USA, France, Polland, Ethiopia, and UK [1]. In Ethiopia, barley is an important crop that is mainly grown by subsistence farmers in a wide range of environments with an altitude range of 1500 to 3500 m.a.s.l. E crop is predominantly categorized as food and malting barley based on their uses [5]. E share of malting barley production is quite low as compared to food barley in Ethiopia [2] despite the country having favorable environment and potential market opportunity. The Asela malt factory imported 15,609 tons of malting barley from 1999/00 to 2000/01 [6]
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