Barley is generally called “Jau”, it is second largest grown crop of Rajasthan. It possesses excellent drought resistance capacity. Barley is consumed by human as well as by cattle. It is also used for malting purpose, beer and in Ayurvedic medicines etc. In Rajasthan, barley flour is mixed with wheat and gram to make "missi roti". Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar are major barley producing states.
In Himachal Pradesh in 2004-05 year barley farming is done in 9.75 thousand acre and gives an average yield of 6qtl/acre.
 

Use for malting purpose.

Crop matures at end of March or April depending upon variety use. To avoid over ripening avoid delay in harvesting. The right stage for harvesting is when moisture in grain reaches to 25-30%. For manual harvesting use serrate edge sickles. Store in dry place after harvesting.

Flag smut: It is seed borne disease. Infection spread through wind. It is favored by cool, humid conditions during flowering period of the host plant.
Treat the seed with fungicides like carboxin 75WP@2.5gm/kg of seeds, Carbendazim @ 2.5gm/kg seed, Tebuconazole @1.25gm/kg of seed if the disease level in the seed lot is high. If it is low to moderate, treat the seed with a combination of Trichoderma viride@4gm/kg seed) and half the recommended dose of Carboxin@1.25gm/kg of seeds.

Stripe/Yellow rust : For control of this disease, use rust resistant variety. Follow crop rotation and adopt mix cropping pattern. Avoid excess use of Nitrogen. When symptoms observed, do dusting of Sulphur@12-15 kg/acre or take spray of Mancozeb @2gm/Ltr or spray the crop with Propiconazole 25EC@1ml / litre of water.

• Disease and their control:
  

Powdery mildew: Greyish white powdery growth appears on the leaf, sheath, stem and floral parts. Powdery growth later become black lesion and cause drying of leaves and other parts.
When incidence of disease is observed, spray with Wettable sulphur@2gm/Ltr of water or Carbendazim@200gm/acre. In case of high incidence spray with Propiconazole@1ml/Liter of water.

Thrips: Mostly observed in dry weather. To check severity of thrips incidence, keep blue sticky traps @6-8 per acre. Also to reduce the incidence spray Verticillium lecani@5gm/Ltr water. If incidence of thrips is more, then take spray of Imidacloprid 17.8SL or Fipronil@1ml/Ltr water or Fipronil 80%WP@2.5ml/Ltr of water or Acephate 75% WP@1.0gm/Ltr or do drenching of Thiamethoxam 25% WG@1.0gm/Ltr of water.

Grass hoppers: Nymphs and adults feeds on leaves. Nymphs are of whitish color with lines while adults are greenish brown in colour with lines on body.
After harvesting remove all plant remains and follow proper sanitation, cleanliness in the field. Do ploughing after harvesting also in summer so that egg present in soil get exposed to sun and thus get destroyed. If infestation is observed spray with Spray Carbrayl 50WP@400gm/acre.

Ear head bug: Adults attack crop on milky stage. They feeds on emerging panicle and produces chaffy grains with silky webs.
To attract adult moth place light traps during day time. Place Pheremone trap @5/acre at flowering stage until panicle stage. In case of severe infestation spray Malathion or Carbaryl@1gm/Ltr of water.

Aphids: For managment of Aphid, use chrysoperla pradators, 4-6 thousand/acre. Use 50 gm/Ltr neem concentrate. In cloudy weather infestation of aphid is occurred. Spray with Thiomethoxam@ 80gm or Imidacloprid 60ml/acre in 100Ltr of water.

Wireworm: They are light brown in color and there larval stage complete within 1-4 year. It damages seedling twist the stem and crown turns white in color.

Control: Post-emergent pesticide is not available for wireworm control. But seed can be treated pre-emergent Cruiser Maxx® which contain Thiamethoxam@325ml/100kg of seeds.
 

• Pest and their control:
  

Army worm: Young larvae are light green in colour they turn in later stage they become yellow colour. They consumed leaves from the edges or sometime completely.

Control: When the symptoms are noticed take dusting of Malathion 5%@10 kg/acre or take sprayof Quinalphos @200 ml/acre. After harvesting remove weeds and stubble.

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

Apply 4-6 ton/acre of Farm Yard Manure or well decomposed cow dung one month before seed sowing.
Apply fertilizer dose of Nitorgen@16kg/acre in the form of urea@36kg/acre and Phosphorus@8kg/acre in the form of SSP@52kg/acre.
Apply full dose of Phosphorus and one-third of Nitrogen at the time of sowing. Apply remaining amount of Nitrogen in two equal spilt i.e. first at time of irrigation and second at time of flowering stage.
 

In initial stage of crop, weed control is necessary to obtain good crop growth along with good yield. Broad and narrow leaves are two major weeds in barley. To control broad leaf weed, apply post emergence weedicide 2,4-D@250gm/100Ltr of water per acre, 30-50 days after sowing.

To control narrow leaf weeds use Isoproturan 75%WP@500gm/100Ltr of water or Pendimethallin 30% EC@1.4Ltr/100Lltr water for one acre.
 

For barley, two or three irrigations are required during its life cycle. Avoid water stress during jointing, booting and heading stage. Moisture stress at this stage will lead to loss in yield. To optimize yield, soil moisture levels should remain above 50% of available moisture in the active root zone from seeding to the soft dough stage.

Apply first irrigation at crown root initiation i.e. 25 to 30 days after sowing. At panicle emergence stage applies second irrigation.
 

Seed Rate
For irrigated lands use seed rate of 41-42kg/acre. In rainfed and late sowing conditions, use seed rate of 40-45kg/acre. But for Vimal varieties, use seed rate of 32-35kg/acre.

Seed Treatment
In saline and alkaline areas, before sowing soak seeds in water for 24 hour at normal temperature. To protect from fungal disease, treat seeds with Vitavax or Thiram@3gm/kg of seeds. To make seed termites free it should be treated with 250ml chlorpyriphos in 5 ltr of water.
 

Time of sowing
Optimum time for seed sowing is end week of October – first week of November. In drought or less rainfall conditions, sowing is done in end of December.

Spacing
Use row to row spacing of 22cm. In case of delay sowing, use spacing of 18-20cm.

Sowing Depth
Use depth of 3-5cm for crop under irrigated conditions and 5-8cm depth for rainfed conditions.

Method of Sowing
For sowing use broadcasting or seed drill method.
 

Plough land thoroughly and destroyed weeds. Ploughing should be followed by 2-3 harrowings to conserved moisture in soil. After ploughing or harrowing operation, do planking to make level soil also to conserved moisture in soil. The stubbles and roots of earlier crop should be hand-picked and dash out of the ground as it attracts termites.
 

Harit (H.B.L.-276):It is a semi dwarf, disease resistant and high yielding variety. The grains are big and juicy in nature. The variety is resistant to yellow rust, loose smut and drought season. It is suitable for sowing in rainfed areas of intermediate and high areas. Variety is suitable for sowing in summer season. In rainfed areas it gives an average yield of 10-12.5qtl/acre and in Lahaul-Spiti area.

Vimal (H.B.L-113):It is a high yielding variety which is suitable for sowing in intermediate and high areas. The variety is resistant to yellow rust disease. It gives an average yield of 10-12.5qtl/acre.

Dolma:High yielding and medium height variety. It has hard grains, juicy, shiny and rich in protein content. The variety is resistant to yellow rust, loose smut, and is moderately resistant to drought. It is suitable for sowing in summer and winter season in medium and high mountainous areas. It gives an average yield of 7.5-8qtl/acre.

Sonu (H.B.L-87): The variety is suitable for sowing in intermediate and high areas (1500m height). It has thick and light yellow color grains. The variety is resistant to yellow rust. It gives an average yield of 10-12.5qtl/acre.

Gopi (H.B.L.-316):The variety is approved for sowing in low and intermediate mountainous regions of rainfed areas. It is resistant to yellow rust disease and jassid pest. It has medium thick grains, shiny and yellow in color. It gives an average yield of 10-12.5qtl/acre.

Gokul (H.B.L.-391):The variety is resistant to all rusts. The variety is approves for intermediate mountainous areas. It gets ready in 170 days. It has yellow color grains and it gives an average yield of 12-13qtl/acre.

Other state varieties:

RS 6: Ready to harvest in 130-135 days. Suitable for rainfed as well as irrigated areas. It is useful for malting purpose. It gives average yield of 14-16qtl/acre.

RBD 1: Suitable for irrigated areas of Rajasthan. Gives average yield of 12-14qtl/acre.

Kedar: High yielding dwarf variety developed by IARI, New Delhi. Suitable for late sown conditions. It is resistant to rust disease.  

Jyoti: Developed by C.S.A, Kanpur. Ready to harvest in 120-125days. Suitable for growing under irrigated areas. Gives average yield of 8-10 qtl/acre.
 
Karan 201, 264: Suitable for cultivation in problematic soils. Gives average yield of 15qtl and 18qtl/acre respectively.

RD 2786: Suitable for timely sown irrigated conditions. Ready to harvest in 111 days. Gives average yield of 20qtl/acre.

RD 2794: Suitable for timely sown irrigated areas. It can be cultivated in alkaline or saline soils. Ready to harvest in 121 days. Gives average yield of 12qtl/acre.

RD 2552, RD 2592

RD 2503, RD 2624

RD 2508, RD 2660

RD 2035, RD 2668

RD 2052, RD 2715

NP-13, NP 103, RS-17, RD 31, RD 57, Bilara 2

RD 2035, BCU 73 or Rekha, DWRUB 64, RD 2503, DWRB 73

PL 751, NARENDRA BARLEY 2, GETANJALI (K1149)

Barley can be cultivated on significant number of soil such as sodic, light & saline soil. Although, it gives best result when grown on moderately heavy loam to sandy soils with good drainage capacity and having moderate fertility. Acidic soils are not suitable for barley cultivation.