Western Australia
January 19, 2010
Barley is becoming a far more important component of the Western Australian cropping system, which makes variety selection and information to support growers all the more important.
A new three year project funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and conducted by the Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) aims to develop management guidelines to support profitable and efficient barley production in WA.
Senior researcher Blakely Paynter, DAFWA, says it’s all about planting the right variety in the right environment with the right management.
“There’s now one hectare of barley planted in WA to every four hectares of wheat, and the average yield is almost two tonnes per hectare,” Mr Paynter said.
“New varieties provide greater choice for growers but also risk, and the ultimate outcome of our research is to help growers with their decision-making.
“While we can’t replicate every farming system, we can provide some assistance in narrowing the options. Growers still need to trial varieties under their own conditions.”
Mr Paynter says a key aim is improving the management guidelines for released varieties.
“We are looking at constraints to production including boron toxicity (which affects approximately one million hectares of WA), physiological leaf spotting, leaf disease and the impact of delayed harvest on the quality of barley for malting.”
Another component of the project will build on the independent National Variety Trials (NVT), which are also funded by GRDC.
“We’re comparing a number of the new entries over a range of seeding dates or under different combinations of management such as nitrogen and seeding rate. By measuring both grain yield and grain quality we can provide better advice on which variety to sow when, why and with what management,” Mr Paynter said.
A third output is examining the management implications of introducing more acid tolerant barley into the farming system. The research is looking at two scenarios; where lime has not yet been applied and where lime has been applied to lift topsoil pH to the target of 5.5 or above.
The management information generated will be used to support the future release of malting varieties with enhanced acid soil tolerance.
For more information about this research project contact the researchers Blakely Paynter on 08 9690 2115 or Andrea Hills on 08 9083 1144.
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