Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T04:37:35.873Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Self-Reseeding Pasture Barley for Mediterranean Drylands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

A. Hadjichristodoulou
A. Hadjichristodoulou
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute, PO Box 2016, Nicosia, Cyprus
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Permanent pastures were successfully established with mixtures of bulks of crosses of Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare with ssp.spontaneum (given the name Mia Milia) and with mixtures of natural crosses involving H. vulgare ssp. agriocrithon (given the name Akhera).These crosses were made to exploit the brittle rachis gene of wild barley in order to develop self-reseeding pasture barley. No re-seeding of the pasture was necessary but a light cultivation to cover the seed in the first year of sowing improved plant establishment. No cultivation was necessary in the following years. Genotypes with a tough rachis were rapidly eliminated from the Milia pastures (F2 bulks) because of their poor seed dispersal. Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer increased dry matter yield. Levels of seed dormancy in the wild barley were adequate to provide a safeguard against extreme dry weather conditions and other natural hazards. Forage quality was very high, with a crude protein content of 18% and digestible organic matter of 80% in harvested dry matter. Permanent barley pastures that exploit the brittle-rachis gene of indigenous genetic material have considerable potential for increasing the animal-carrying capacity of permanent pastures and marginal cropped lands.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , July 1995 , pp. 361 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, W. K. (1985). Production of green feed and grain from grazed barley in Northern Syria. Field Crops Research 10:57–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ari (1967). Range improvement trial. Annual Report for 1966, 9–10. Nicosia: Agricultural Research Institute.Google Scholar
El-Moneim, A. M. Abd & Cocks, P. S. (1986). Adaptation of Medicago rigidula to a cereal-pasture rotation in north-west Syria. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 107:179–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hadjichristodoulou, A. (1983). Dual Purpose Barley. Technical Bulletin No. 46. Nicosia: Agricultural Research Institute.Google Scholar
Hadjichristodoulou, A. (1988). The use of Hordeum spontaneum to breed for grain and self-regenerating pasture. In Cereal Breeding Related to Integrated Cereal Production, 195–199 (Eds Jorna, M. L. and Sloomaker, L. A. J.). Wageningen, The Netherlands: Pudoc.Google Scholar
Hadjichristodoulou, A. (1992 a). A new domestication of the “wild” brittle rachis gene of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). FAO/IBPGR Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter 90:46.Google Scholar
Hadjichristodoulou, A. (1992 b). Collecting, evaluation and utilization of Hordeum vulgare subsp. agriocrithon in Cyprus. FAO/IBPGR Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter 90, 15–18.Google Scholar
Hadjichristodoulou, A. (1993) The use of wild barley in crosses for grain production under dryland conditions. Euphytica 69:211–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harlan, J. R. (1979). On the origin of barley. In Barley. Agricultural Handbook No 338, 10–36 (Ed. by USDA). Washington, DC: USDA.Google Scholar
Nilan, R. A. (1964). The Cytology and Genetics of Barley. Monographic Supplement No. 3. Washington: State University.Google Scholar
Parry, M. L. & Parry, C. J. (1993). Agricultural geography of barley. In The Agrometeorology of Rainfed Barley-based Farming Systems, 15–31 (Eds Jones, M., Mathys, Gustave and Rijks, D.). Syria: International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA).Google Scholar
Sprague, A. M. (1963). Cereals as forage. In Forages, 337–345 (Eds Hughes, H. D., Heath, M. E. and Metcalfe, D. S.). Ames, Iowa: State University.Google Scholar
Srivastava, J. P. (1977). Barley production, utilization and research in the Afro-Asian region. In Barley, Proceedings of the Fourth Regional Winter Cereal Workshop, Volume II, 242–259 (Eds Barghouti, S., Saari, E. E., Srivastava, J. P. and Chancellor, G.). Aleppo, Syria: International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA).Google Scholar
Veronesi, F. (1991). Achievements in fodder crop breeding in Mediterranean Europe. In Fodder Crops Breeding: Achievements, Novel Strategies and Biotechnology, Proceedings of the 16th Meeting of the Fodder Crops Section of Eucarpia, Wageningen, 18–22 November 1990, 25–30 (Eds den Nijs, A.P.M. and Elgersma, A.). Wageningen: Pudoc.Google Scholar
Zohary, D. (1959). Is Hordeum agriocrithon the ancestor of six-rowed cultivated barley? Evolution 13:279–280.Google Scholar