Breeding for purpose: Sole‐ and dual‐use barley

Abstract

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in south-central China can be either harvested at earlydough stage as a sole-use (SU) forage crop or as a dual-use (DU) crop that is grazed at early jointing stage for forage and harvested at mature stage for grain. A 2-yr field experiment was conducted to compare genotypic differences in yield and quality of forage and grain for both SU and DU production. Barley genotypes differed significantly in forage yield for both SU and DU, among which six-row genotypes were superior to two-row genotypes especially in SU production. Wansipi 14008 had the greatest forage yield with the averaged fresh weights of 3.3 and 1.01 kg m −2 for SU and DU, respectively, across 2 yr. Greater differences for forage crude protein (CP) content were found among genotypes for SU than those for DU, suggesting a more effective selection of barley varieties to improve CP content for SU production. The contents of crude fiber (CF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) differed among genotypes for both SU and DU, which were affected by the environmental conditions as well. Grain yield from DU treatment showed less variation than grain quality and agronomic traits. The high forage yield variety Wansipi 14008 could be recommended to farmers as a desired barley variety for both SU and DU production in south-central China.