impact  
The University of Arizona

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
 


Enhance Economic Opportunities for Agricultural Producers
Low input barley

Impact Nugget
Grain yield of low input barley is about half that of high input barley, but it requires only a third of the irrigation water and a quarter of the fertilizer. The potential savings by growing low input barley is about 2 acre-ft per acre of water and 150 pounds of nitrogen fertilizer per acre grown.

Issue
Barley is an important component of the crop mixture in Arizona.  It improves the soil and breaks pest cycles, and thus benefits subsequent crops such as cotton and vegetables.  Growers wish to recover their production costs when growing barley.  This has become more difficult with the rising costs of inputs such as irrigation water and fertilizer.

What has been done?
University of Arizona researchers have evaluated low input barley varieties at the Maricopa Agricultural Center for the past 5 years.

Impact
Grain yield of low input barley is about half that of high input barley, but it requires only a third of the irrigation water and a quarter of the fertilizer.  Therefore, if water and fertilizer costs are high, growing low input barley can be more economical.  The potential savings by growing low input barley is about 2 acre-ft per acre of water and 150 pounds of nitrogen fertilizer per acre grown.

A low input barley cultivar named Solar will be released in 2006.  This cultivar was identified from evaluations at the Maricopa Agricultural Center.  Compared with Solum, a low input barley released in 1991, Solar has 10 percent higher grain yield, 11percent higher grain test weight, and 24 percent less lodging.


Funding
Arizona Grain Research and Promotion Council

Contact
Michael J. Ottman
Extension Agronomist
1140 E. South Campus Dr.
Plant Sciences Department
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Tel: 520-621-1583
FAX: 520-621-7186
Email: mottman@ag.arizona.edu

Return to the Title Page
Return to the Table of Contents