Responsiveness of barley cultivars to nitrogen fertiliser

Abstract

Summary. Genotypic differences in responses to nitrogen (N) fertiliser of 6 cultivars of barley (Clipper, Stirling, Weeah, Schooner, Chebec, Skiff) grown at 8 different rates of N were examined in 2 seasons. Measurements of vegetative growth, N content, grain yield, grain protein concentration (GPC) and yield components were taken to identify traits that may contribute to high yield responsiveness.

The optimum rates of N for dry matter production at ear emergence (DM_ee) were greater than 80 kg N/ha for all cultivars and often growth increased up to 105 kg N/ha. Optimum rates of N for grain yield (N_opt) were lower and ranged, on average, from 50 kg N/ha for Clipper to 96 kg N/ha for Chebec. The initial response to N varied from 13–14 kg/kg N in Chebec, Weeah and Schooner, to 36 kg/kg N in Skiff.

The N_opt for the semi-dwarf cultivar Skiff was 71 kg N/ha and it tended to show the greatest yield response to N. It produced 19 kernels/g DM_ee, compared with 15–17 kernels/g DM_ee in the other cultivars. Unlike most other cultivars, Skiff’s yield was consistently and positively correlated with ears/m²; Stirling was the only other cultivar to show a similar relationship. However, the average kernel weight of Skiff was up to 5 mg lower than that of Clipper, Weeah and Schooner, and varied more than these cultivars between sites, suggesting that consistent grain size may be a problem in this cultivar. By comparison, Clipper and Schooner had lower N_opt (51 kg/ha) and a less variable kernel weight.

There were no signs of differences in GPC of the 6 cultivars used here at 3 N-responsive sites. Adding N increased GPC up to the highest rate of N and the responses were generally linear, but GPC at N_opt exceeded the upper limit for malting quality of 11.8% in all cultivars. Average N rates of between 38 kg N/ha (Schooner) and 58 kg N/ha (Skiff) were sufficient to raise GPC above 11.8%.

The experiments showed that the N rates for optimum yields varied considerably among cultivars, but applyi1ng rates to achieve maximum yields may cause GPC to exceed the maximum value for malting barley. The use of semi-dwarf cultivars, such as Skiff, which are very responsive to N, can provide some leeway in the choice of N, but there may be a trade-off in quality associated with reduced grain size.