Barley
is an important cereal because of its wide adaptability to different climatic
and soil conditions and its suitability for varied uses. Originally, barley was
mainly cultivated and used for human food but now besides providing grain, barley has enormous potential for
fodder and is fast emerging as promising crop for dual purpose. Barley
is now used primarily for animal feed and to produce malt, with smaller amount
used for seed and direct human consumption.
In
India, there is scarcity of animal feed i.e. dry fodder by 31%, green fodder by
23% and concentrate feed by 47%. Since barley has fast growth habit and produces,
high biomass at early stage with limited inputs and water. Hence, barley can be
utilized as a source of green fodder in rainfed, arid to semiarid conditions
where other fodder crops like barseem, oats, sugarcane etc. cannot be grown. During
winters, there is an acute shortage of green fodder so, barley can be utilized
as green fodder with very limited water supply or less rainfall in these areas.
Since both the green forage and grain can be utilized for animal fodder/ feed
purposes, the crop can be advantageous over oats, because of its dual
utilization, faster early growth as well as less water requirement. So, barley
can provide important nutrition to the livestock as its straw is an excellent source
of cellulosic ethanol feedstock.
Dual
purpose barley provides nutrition rich green fodder for
the livestock at the time of scarcity and at the same time also provides
acceptable quality grain for human consumption. The marginal farmers would
prefer to grow barley varieties giving high forage yield for their livestock
and food grain for human consumption, as it ia an outstanding source of
protein, vitamins and minerals.
Dual purpose barley varieties can be given one cut at 50- 55 DAS in plains
under irrigated conditions and 70-75 DAS in hills under rainfed conditions. Cutting at early stage provides good
quality fodder during lean period (mid December to mid January) for feeding to
the animals. After harvesting for fodder, the grains are obtained from regenerated
crop without any yield plenty’s.
Himachal Pradesh situated in the
North-Western part of Himalaya have total geographical area of 55.67 lakh
hectares with agriculture and horticulture are major economic activities. About
81 per cent of the total cultivated area in the state is rainfed. As compared
to the county’s productivity, the state has very low productivity of cereal. In
the hilly terrain of Himachal Pradesh, the land holdings are small, scattered
and thus difficult to manage. Even mechanization becomes difficult with small
land holdings. Beside cultivation in slopes, shallow soils, limited irrigation,
use of limited inputs and quality seeds, and improper management of production
are also hurdles for increased agricultural output. In addition, the
dissemination of suitable and practical technologies which are available have
not received due emphasis in the state. The number of farm animals per
household has also decreased which is linked to the shortage of fodder. This is
posing a challenge in the availability of farmyard manures, particularly on
vegetable and fruit based systems. The fodder scarcity is further aggravated
with the decrease in number and area of grazing lands, infestation of pastures
with obnoxious weeds and more thrust on vegetable cultivation. The state is
still producing the crops based on the knowledge transmitted to them by their ancestor
leading to a grossly unscientific cultivation. Because of this, they often fail
to achieve the desired potential yield of different crops and new varieties. Barley is the staple food crop in
the tribal areas of hills where it is also used in preparation of local beverage
in addition to food and cattle feed. It is predominantly grown under rainfed
conditions in the northern hills and farmers use very low inputs. During past
few years, winters have become warmer in hills and drought is becoming a
frequent phenomenon. Therefore, most of the farmers now prefer to grow barley to
other crops and grow barley in
apple orchards mainly for utilization as green forage.
For
Northern Hills, a dual purpose barley variety BHS 380 (Pusa Losar) has been
released by Central Variety Release Committee in 2010 having following
important features:
|
Name
of Barley Variety |
BHS
380 |
|
Zone/State |
Northern
Hill Zone |
|
Production
condition |
Timely
sown, rainfed |
|
Year
of release |
2010 |
|
Released
by CVRC/SVRC |
Central
Sub-Committee on Crop Standards |
|
Developed
by |
IARI,
Regional Station, (CHC), Amartara Cottage, Tutikandi Centre, Shimla |
|
Plant
height (cm) |
60
cm |
|
Days
to maturity (days) |
182
days |
|
1000-grain
weight (g) |
35
g |
|
Average
yield (q/ha) |
Forage
yield = 59.4 q/ha Grain yield = 21.0 q/ha |
|
Average
Potential yield (q/ha) |
Forage
yield = 89.7q/ha Grain yield =
29.8q/ha |
|
Special Feature: BHS 380 is
resistant to leaf and stripe rust along with blight and powdery mildew. |
|
Cultivation of Pusa Losar (BHS 380) will be a
boon to the farmers of Himachal Pradesh as it will fulfill the need of food and
fodder both and will sustain barley production in the Hills.
: A dual purpose Barley variety meeting food and feed requirements of farmers of Himachal Pradesh){kind=link}
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