Sowing Date and Genotype Influence on Yield and Quality of Dual-Purpose Barley in a Salt-Affected Arid Region

Ehab S A Moustafa,Mohamed O A Rady,Mohamed F Awad,Hossam I A Farag,Elsayed Mansour,El-Sayed E A El-Sobky,Ahmed Attia,Mohamed A T Yasin

doi:10.3390/agronomy11040717

Ehab S A Moustafa, Mohamed O A Rady + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11040717

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Abstract

Dual-purpose barley is an alternative approach to producing high-quality forage yield plus an acceptable grain yield in marginal environments of arid regions that are characterized by lack of forage. Field experiment was performed in two consecutive growing seasons at an arid region affected by salinity in irrigation water and soil at Western Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. The study aimed to optimize sowing date and screen salt-tolerant barley genotypes that perform better in terms of forage yield and quality as well as grain and biomass yield production in salt-affected environment. Sowing dates, genotypes, and their interaction significantly impacted most of the studied variables such as forage yield, crude protein yield, and grain and biomass yields. The early sowing in late October yielded higher than intermediate sowing in mid-November and late sowing in early December. Some of the tested genotypes performed better than others as indicated by about 50% higher forage yield, 6% crude protein content, 39% grain and 21% biological yields (total aboveground dry matter), suggesting higher adaptation capacity. Interestingly, grain and biological yields did not differ significantly between dual-purpose approach and grain-only pattern. In conclusion, dual-purpose barley was found favorable for producing grain and forage production in similar environments under early sowing date.

Highlights

Large agricultural areas in the Mediterranean region are affected by salinity [1]
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the main winter cereals in the Mediterranean region and it has the advantage of growing in marginal environments that are unsuitable for other cereal crops
The maximum fresh forage yield was produced by G-2000 under early sowing date (16,977 kg ha−1 ) while the lowest fresh forage yield was recorded by G-131 under late sowing date (7452 kg ha−1 ), (Figure 1A)

Summary

Introduction

Large agricultural areas in the Mediterranean region are affected by salinity [1]. salinity is one of the most important abiotic stresses that destructively affect crop production, in arid and semi-arid regions [2,3]. The recent climate change is characterized by decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature, resulting in greater aridity These conditions increase soil salinity due to salt accumulation in surface layers as a result of higher soil evaporation rates [7]. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the main winter cereals in the Mediterranean region and it has the advantage of growing in marginal environments that are unsuitable for other cereal crops. It ranks fourth in terms of cereal acreage and total production after wheat, maize and rice [8]. Its major uses are livestock or poultry feeding and raw product

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