BARLEY

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 Rajasthan, Hanuman nagar, Tonk, Pali, Sawai Madhopur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Sikar, Jaipur, Bhilwara, Udaipur, Aimer and Ganganagar are major barley producing areas.

Barley can be cultivated on significant number of soil such as sodic, light & saline soil. Although, it give 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.

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

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

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

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

Other state varieties:

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

PL 751, NARENDRA BARLEY 2, GETANJALI (K1149)

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 15 qtl and 18 qtl/acre respectively.

RD 2786: Suitable for timely sown irrigated conditions. Ready to harvest in 111days. 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  12 qtl/acre.

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

Time of sowing
For irrigated areas, complete sowing from 15 to 25 November whereas for rainfed areas, optimum time for cultivation is from 15 October to 10th November. If sowing get delayed yield will get declined.

Spacing
Use row to row spacing of 22.5cm. 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..

Seed Rate:
Under irrigated conditions, use seed rate of 35 kg/acre and for rainfed conditions, use seed rate of 45 kg/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 Formathion in 5.3 ltr of water.

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 Isoproturon 75%WP@500gm/100Ltr of water or Pendimethallin 30% EC@1.4Ltr/100Lltr water for one acre.

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.
For rainfed areas, apply Nitrogen@12-16kg and Phosphorus@8kg/acre in form of Urea@24-35 kg/acre, SSP@50 kg/acre. For Irrigated areas, apply Nitrogen@24-32 kg and Phosphorus@12 kg/acre in form of Urea@52-70 kg/acre and SSP@75 kg/acre.

Apply full dose of Phosphorus and one-third of Nitrogen at 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.

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.

• Pest and their control:
  

Army worm: Young larvae are light green in color they turn in later stage they become yellow color. They consumed Leaves from the edges or sometime completely. The clusters of egg are present on leaves appearing as a cottony or fuzzy. They are cyclic in nature showing 3 to 4 generation.

Control: Natural way to control armyworm is to allow the natural creatures that can parasitize the larvae which destroy the crops. Bacillus thuringiensis application is also beneficial for it.

When the symptoms are noticed take dusting of malathion 5% @10 kg/acre or quinalphos1.5% @250 ml/acre. After harvesting remove weeds and stubble.

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 @ 325 mL/100 kg of seeds.

Aphids: These are nearly transparent, soft-bodied sucking insects. When present in sufficient numbers, aphids can cause yellowing and premature death of leaves. Infestation usually occurs during second fortnight of January till crop.

Control: For Aphid, use chrysoperla predators.5-7 thousand/acre or use 50 gm/Ltr neem concentrate.  In cloudy weather infestation of aphid is occurred. Spray with Thiamethoxam or Imidacloprid 60 ml/acre in 100 Ltr of water.

Ear head bug: Adults attack crop on milky stage. They feed on emerging panicle and produces chaffy grains with silky webs. Eggs are of shiny white color and found in cluster with orange hairs. Caterpillars are of brown colors with yellow band and minute hairs. Adults are of brownish color having fibrous forewings and yellowish hind wings.

Control: To attract adult moth place light traps during day time. Place Pheromone trap @5/acre at flowering stage until panicle stage. In case of severe infestation spray Malathion or Carbaryl @1 gm/Ltr of water.

Grass hopper: Nymphs and adults feeds on leaves. Nymphs are of whitish color with lines while adults are greenish brown in color with lines on body.

Control: 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 Carbaryl 50 WP @ 400 gm/acre.

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 @ 5 gm/Ltr water.

2) If incidence of thrips is more, then take spray of Imidacloprid 17.8 SL or Fipronil@2.5 ml/ltr water or Acephate 75% WP@2gm/ltr or do drenching of Thiamethoxam 25% WG@1 gm/tr of water.

• Disease and their control:
  

Powdery mildew: Grayish 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. The disease infects plants during periods of high humidity and cool to moderate temperatures. Low light intensity, which accompanies dry weather and a dense crop canopy, favors this disease.

When incidence of disease is observed, spray with Wettable sulphur @ 2 gm/Ltr of water or Carbendazim @ 200 gm/acre. In case of high incidence spray with Propiconazole @1 ml/Litre of water.

Stripe/Yellow rust: The ideal growth conditions for yellow rust are temperatures of between 8-13°C for spore germination and penetration, and 12-15°C for further development and with free water. The yield penalties from yellow rust can range from 5% to as high as 30% in high disease pressure scenarios. The pustules of stripe rust, which, contain yellow to orange-yellow urediospores, usually form narrow stripes on the leaves.

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

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@2.5 gm/kg of seeds, Carbendazim @ 2.5 gm/kg seed, Tebuconazole @1.25 gm/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@4 gm/kg seed) and half the recommended dose of Carboxin (Vitavax 75WP) @1.25 gm/kg seed).

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.

Use for malting purpose.