The effect of a fungicide application on the yield and quality of barley grain and malt

Abstract

In small-plot field trials conducted in 2000–2002 we studied the effect of fungicides on the yield and selected technological parameters of grain of malt barley and on malt. For the treatment we used Cerelux (active ingredients: fenpropimorph, flusilazole), Amistar (azoxystrobin) and Caramba (metconazole) applied in two stages of stand development (DC 47 and 55). Compared to the untreated control plants the yield grains ranged between 6.9 and 16.5% after the application of fungicides. The application of fungicides increased the proportion of full grains and had a favourable effect on the chemical composition of grain. After the treatment with azoxystrobin the content of N-substances decreased from 11.43 to 11.07% as compared to the controls. The highest starch content of grain was observed after the application of the active ingredient metconazole; the average content ranged between 64.44 and 64.62%. Compared to the controls the highest relative yield of malt starch (124.2–125.2%) was achieved after the application of azoxystrobin or a combination of azoxystrobin and metconazole in the DC 47 stage. The highest average attainable degree of fermentation was 78.57% and was discovered in the untreated control.