Barley husbandry

Abstract Cereals are the most widely grown arable crops in the EU. Wheat accounts for just under 50% of the cereal area followed by barley and grain maize (southern Europe). Other cereals grown to a limited extent include oats and rye. This chapter outlines the identification features, market requirements and husbandry of the main cereals crops... 

Grain maize grows well in many southern countries in Europe, especially in France and Italy. Yields are very high averaging between 8 and 9t/ha of grain. With this yield, grain maize is the third most importatrt cereal in the EU after wheat and barley. Most of the maize crop is used for animal feed with a smaller amount milled for industrial use (starch) and for human consumption. There is an increasing market for maize for production of bioethanol. For crop husbandry see Chapter 18. 

Lockhart Wiseman s Crop Husbandry HGCA, The Barley Grvwth Guide, HGCA, 2006. 

Many crop yields have significantly increased since the 1960s. Wheat and barley yielded similarly in 1966 at around 4 tonnes/hectare (t/ha). Yields increased steadily right up to the late 1990s with most improvement in the yield of wheat. Since the late 1990s yields have plateaued (Fig. 0.3) despite improvements in varieties and crop husbandry and a small increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. 

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