Malting Barley Production Technology

Malting barley grain of the required quality can be obtained only if the whole complex of science-based growing practices is carried out, taking into account zonal soil and climate features, variety specifics and the requirements of the brewing industry.

Preceding crops. The best preceding crops for malting barley in its growing zones are considered to be row crops, after which the soil stays free of weeds and contains sufficient nutrients. In the Forest-Steppe and Polissia of Ukraine, corn, sugar beet and potato are considered good preceding crops. Satisfactory preceding crops for malting barley are winter crops after fertilized fallow, and flax. On sod-podzolic soils, and also low-humus chernozems, barley can be sown after grain legumes.

Soil preparation. Spring barley is among the crops demanding in tillage. It is desirable that the soil be well loosened and free of weeds. The optimal dates for autumn ploughing are from the second ten days of September to the second ten days of October. Spring tillage for barley begins with harrowing. In cold rainy weather and a prolonged spring harrowing can be skipped and one can go straight to cultivating the autumn-ploughed land.

Fertilization. The fertilization system of spring barley is determined first of all by the preceding crops. Barley makes good use of the aftereffect of organic and mineral fertilizers applied to the preceding crop. For malting barley it is important that the grain has a low protein content (9–11.5%) and a high starch content (no less than 63–65%). Therefore low doses are applied once before sowing. In malting barley growing zones in Ukraine moderate doses of mineral fertilizers (N_30-60P_30-80 K_40-80) are applied, which ensure obtaining barley grain of the required quality and a yield gain of 3–9 c/ha compared with the control without fertilizers.

Seed preparation. For sowing, conditioned seed of high reproductions must be used. When growing with intensive technology, seed with a 1000-grain weight of 40–50 g and growth vigor of no less than 80% is used. Seed dressing is mandatory, the cheapest and an effective plant protection measure. When choosing a dressing product, its spectrum of action, expected disease infection, varietal features, weather conditions and price must be considered. For barley seed dressing the following are recommended: Classic SC — tebuconazole, 60 g/l; Classic Trio SC – 37.5 g/l flutriafol + 25 g/l thiabendazole + 15 g/l imazalil.

Sowing. The best sowing method is the one that ensures an even feeding area for plants. As a rule row and narrow-row sowing methods are used. In regions with sufficient moisture supply, on heavy soils seed is placed at a depth of 2–4 cm, on light soils at 5–6 cm. The highest plant productivity is obtained at seeding rates of 4–5 million/ha. The tillering coefficient in such crops is 2–3. Sowing is carried out at early dates as soon as the condition of the soil allows entering the field. The criterion for sowing is soil ripeness, when good loosening is reached in tillage. Sowing must be finished no later than the second ten days of April even in a late spring. Malting barley varieties react especially negatively to late sowing. Besides reduced yield, grain quality deteriorates considerably. Husk content rises, grain size decreases and starch content falls.

Crop care. Spring cereals suffer from weeds more than winter ones. Early sowing dates of spring barley do not allow cleaning fields of weeds through pre-sowing tillage. For weed control on spring barley crops we recommend using the herbicide Trimmer 75% WG at 0.020–0.025 kg/ha and other herbicides. To prevent crop lodging and the consequences linked with this phenomenon, retardants are used. According to the literature, lodging sharply worsens malting barley grain quality. In particular, in plants that did not lodge, grain size — the weight of the 1st and 2nd fractions (grain size 2.5 mm) — was 85%, husk content 9%, protein 10.5%, extractivity 79.7%. In lodged plants the indicators were 61%, 10%, 14.7%, 77.7% respectively. Lodging can be caused by various factors including high nitrogen doses (N_80-140) applied in intensive growing technologies. Lodging sharply worsens evenness of light, air exchange in the stand pressed to the ground, holds moisture, as a result of which plant disease increases, photosynthetic productivity noticeably falls, yield falls and its harvest losses rise to 15–30%. To control plant lodging, Binom® 46% (active ingredients chlormequat chloride, 305 g/l + ethephon, 155 g/l, formulation water-soluble concentrate SL) is successfully used. The mechanism of action of chlormequat chloride and ethephon is that water-soluble active substances are absorbed by plants mainly through their green parts, and chlormequat chloride also through the root system. Binom® 46% SL counteracts physiologically caused lodging by shortening and thickening the internodes. To a certain extent the product hinders the penetration of rot agents to the root collar, thus protecting against stem brittleness. Lodging thus does great harm. The aim of the research was to establish the effectiveness of the growth regulator Binom® 46% SL for raising malting barley plant resistance to lodging.

Research method: The trials were carried out in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi district of Cherkasy region, at stage 33 (BBCH scale), appearance of the third node, with a Binom® 46% application rate of 2.5 l/ha. The working solution rate was 300 l/ha. The spring barley growing technology was the generally accepted one for the zone. Lodging was assessed at stage 89 (BBCH scale). The degree of lodging was assessed on a 9-point scale, where 0 is no lodging; 9 is complete lodging of plants.

Research results: Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are an important element in the technology of growing malting barley varieties. As the research showed, applying Binom® 46% caused inhibition of growth processes in barley plants, noticeable already 4–5 days after treatment. PGRs make it possible to delay the start of lodging and reduce its severity, and also show an indirect fungicidal action. Our research results show that applying Binom® 46% SL at an application rate of 2.5 l/ha substantially reduced plant height. The difference between the control and the trial variant was 8.6 cm. Stem length measurements showed a substantial reduction in the height of the third internode, by 2.7 cm. As a result of applying the retardant Binom® 46% SL, thickening of the stem was observed. Thus the thickness of the third internode increased by 0.8 mm at an application rate of 2.5 l/ha compared with the control. (table 1).

Treating crops with the retardant Binom® 46% SL raised spring barley plant resistance to lodging by reducing the length of the upper internodes. In particular, in the control variant plant lodging averaged 2.0 points. On the plot where the retardant Binom® 46% SL was applied there was no lodging. The 1000-grain weight rose substantially; in the variant with the retardant Binom® 46% SL it exceeded the control by 0.5 g. The grain yield from the treated variant exceeded the control by 0.4 t/ha. For disease control during the growing season, crops are sprayed once or twice with fungicides (Esculap® 25% EC, Alto Super 330 EC, Rex Duo SC, etc.). Barley can be damaged most of all by such pests as the Swedish and Hessian fly, striped flea beetles, cereal aphids, cereal leaf beetle, shield bug (the harmful bug) and others. When spraying with Killer® 55% EC, Fastac, BI-58 New against pests, economic thresholds of harmfulness must be taken into account.

Harvesting. Harvesting is the most responsible period in growing malting barley. Grain quality (first of all its colour) deteriorates when harvesting is late. Malting barley is best threshed at full ripeness by direct combining at a grain moisture of 16–18%.

Conclusions. From the material presented it can be concluded that the effectiveness of using the retardant Binom® 46% SL on malting barley is ensured by raising plant resistance to lodging and reducing harvest losses. For effective use of Binom® 46% SL, good plant development at the tillering stage is an important factor. Using the growth regulator Binom® 46% SL when growing malting barley ensures a quality yield and makes harvesting easier. We recommend using Binom® 46% SL on winter and spring barley in intensive growing technologies, as well as on crops of varieties with moderate resistance and prone to lodging.

Bibliography:

1. Vlasenko V.A., Shubenko I.A., Shubenko N.P., Melnyk S.A., Dubytska L.I. et al. // Technology of growing malting barley (production recommendations). Moscow: 2001. P. 17.
2. Kandyrov A.M. Recommendations for growing malting barley. Intended for specialists of farms belonging to the malting barley growing raw material zones. Institute of Farming and Breeding of the NAS of Belarus. P. 1–4.
3. Lykhochvor V.V. Crop production. Technologies for growing agricultural crops, Kyiv: 2004. P. 246–263.
4. Dolezalova A. Czechoslovak research on the effect of various quality indicators of barley on malt quality. Przemysl Ferm. i Owocowo-Warzywny. 1984. No. 3. P. 1
5. Mykhailenko S.V. Effect of seed dressings on the development of leaf spots of spring barley in the Polissia zone of Ukraine // Plant protection and quarantine. Interdepartmental thematic scientific collection. Kyiv, 2004. Issue 50. P. 166–169.
6. Shmorhun A.V. Productivity of spring barley depending on seeding rate and dates under different growing technologies // Collection of scientific works of the Southern UAAS. Kyiv, 1999. Issue 1–2. P. 3–5.
7. Lykhochvor V.V. Plant protection and quarantine. «Fighting cereal lodging is the key to high yield» No. 2, 2007. P. 32.
8. Bruy I.H. Effectiveness of retardants on spring barley. // Farming and plant protection, 2003. No. 4. P. 49–50.
9. Mykhailenko S.V. Effectiveness of new fungicides against leaf spots of spring barley // Proceedings of the All-Ukrainian scientific and practical conference of young scientists and specialists on grain production problems in Ukraine. 2002. P. 37–38.
   Senior researcher, Institute of Plant Protection, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences S.V. Mykhailenko.