EFFECT OF APPLIED NITROGEN AND WATER STRESS ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF BARLEY (Hordeum vulgare L. )

Abstract:

Field trials were conducted at the Irrigation Research Station, Kadawa if Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, during the 1984/85 and 1985/86 dry seasons, to study the effects of moisture stress imposed at various growth stages under different nitrogen levels on yield and quality of malting barley, Moisture stress imposed ,by missing irrigation at any growth stage before dough stage reduced most of the growth parameters viz: plant height, number of tillers per plant, leaf area per plant, leaf area index, flag leaf area ana dry matter production. However, N application increased these growth parameters, Missing irrigation at jointing and heading stages reduced the mean number of days to maturity whereas nitrogen application upto 60 kg N/ha increased the number of days to maturity. Missing irrigation during early stages from tillering to heading reduced the number of spikes per metre square and number of grains per spike. The final grain yield was adversely affected by withholding irrigation at any stage of growth except heading stage. The maximum yield reductions of 13 and 32 per cent were observed when irrigation was missed at jointing stage in 1985 and 1986, respectively. A nitrogen fertilizer rate of 60 kg N/ha was found to be optimum for efficient water utilization and acceptable grain protein content in malting barley