Hybrid barleys outstrip wheat
13 July 2001
Hybrid barleys outstrip wheat
By Gilly Johnson
The first hybrid barley varieties were launched by New Farm Crops on Thursday (12 July), promising outstanding yield performance.
Growers can expect impressive and more reliable yields of perhaps 1t/ha over the highest performing six-row Siberia, says the breeder.
“On light land, these barleys look like being the most productive cereal,” says Huw Phillips of SAC Scottish Agronomy, who has been exploring their potential.
The extra yield and earlier harvest, critical in weather-vulnerable Scotland, make these varieties a better choice than wheat in many northern regions, he argues.
Scottish trials put the six row hybrids well ahead of the best barn filling wheats, with a 1.6t/ha lead on established six row Manitou.
“And yield is what we need to compete with maize as a feed on world markets,” he adds.
Another benefit of the genetic hybridisation process is that seed costs will be cheaper than for hybrid wheats, which sell at a premium of around 35/ha over conventional.
No chemicals are involved in seed production. Instead the hybridisation is down to traditional breeding, using a wild barley strain as the source of the sterile parent.
This background explains why these new varieties look more promising and robust than chemically produced hybrid wheats, suggests NFCs Paul Bury.
The first two hybrid barleys, as yet unnamed, are now in National List trials. Commercial seed will be available by autumn 2003. Both are six row feed types.
Two row hybrids and barleys with malting quality are not ruled out for the future.