Identification of new barley genotypes with better foliar disease resistance in combination with straw and grain yield for India

Abstract

Barley is a main staple crop and large areas in the world are devoted to the crop. In India, barley is an important crop cultivated since ancient times. The major barley growing states in India are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Chhatishgarh and Sikkim. However, its area decreased in the country throughout the 20th century, mainly due to competition against wheat. As a result, barley is generally confined to marginal, problematic soils as a rainfed crop. The main usages of barley in the country are feed for livestock (ca. 65%), malt (20-30%) and food (less than 10%). An increased interest in barley is apparent in the country since the 90s. The use of malt barley as a cash crop coupled with the increased number of breweries in the country, the high frequency of drought events that can make barley more suitable as feed than other crops (i.e. sugar cane or oats) in drought prone environments and its nutritional quality as food have increased the interest over barley. However, to fulfil the needs, new germplasm with superior productivity, yield stability, disease resistant and fit for purpose needs to be developed.