Green Manures - Barley (Hordeum vulgare)

Sustainable Agriculture in Hawai'i info block

Barley

Hordeum vulgare

Click here for a downloadable, printable pdf on Barley.

Cool season annual cereal grain

Uses

Biomass/organic matter source (Dry Matter: 3,000-10,000 lbs/ac/yr)
Erosion control
Weed suppression
Nurse crop or companion crop
Nutrient recycler

Plant Highlights

EXCELLENT for providing erosion control, for providing lasting residue
VERY GOOD for taking up & storing excess N, for increasing organic matter and improving soil structure, for suppressing weeds, for animal grazing (production, nutritional quality & palatability), for quick growth and establishment

Cultural Traits

Very good heat tolerance
Very good drought tolerance
Good shade tolerance
Fair flood tolerance
Very good tolerance to low fertility
pH range 5.0-8.3 (NRCS), prefers 6.0-8.5 (SAN)

Planting
Planting depth: 3/4 - 2 inches
Seeding Method

Drilled: Seed at 50-100 lb./A (1-2 bu/A)
Broadcast: Seed at 80-125 lb./A (1.6-2.5 bu/A)

Seed Cost: .05-.20 $/lb
Seed Availability: Readily available

Cultivars

Work by Evensen, Osgood, and El-Swaify suggests that the ‘Wysor’ cultivar is suitable for a cover crop in Hawai`i.

Mix: with annual legumes or grasses, perennial ryegrass

Soil Improvements

Good for loosening subsoil
Good at releasing P and K
Very good at loosening topsoil

Pest Control

Root knot nematode susceptible (NRCS)
Fair for disease suppression
Very good allelopathic properties
Very good weed suppression
Good for attracting beneficial insects

Management Attributes

Good trafficability
Rapid establishment and growth ideal for short windows

Notes

Barley can be easily killed with grass herbicides or by disking or mowing at mid to late bloom stage, prior to setting seed.
Barley cover crops have been shown to increase populations of centipedes, predator mites, beneficial spiders, and other important predators.
Barley can be a host for nematode species Meloidogyne javanica.

Uses in the Pacific Region
No information is available in this database on this topic.

Uses in Hawai`i
The Hawai`i Natural Resources Conservation Service Technical Guide includes Barley. Their specification describes Barley as follows:

Minimum broadcast seeding rates of 70 lbs. pure live seed/acre;
pH range from 5.0-8.3;
Approximate growing time 90 days;
Approximate dry matter yield 1 ton/acre;
Approximate N content 18 lbs./T dry matter;
Add 20 lbs. of nitrogen/ton dry matter at plow down;
Optimum planting period year round at elevations over 1500 ft.
Optimum planting period fall/winter at elevations below 1500 ft.

Evensen, Osgood and El-Swaify conducted five years of research with small grains as cover crops on sugarcane plantations for erosion and weed control. Variety trials for 51 cultivars of oat, barley, wheat, ryegrass and rye grain on Hawai`i, Molokai, and Lanai were compared. Of the barley trials, ‘Wysor’ was the most promising (in terms of vigorous growth, rapid soil cover, weed suppression, low plant height, and lack of flowering). This information has applications for pineapple, coffee and tropical fruit tree orchards.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
UC Davis On-line Cover Crop Index:
http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/cgi-win/ccrop.exe/show_crop_3

REFERENCES
Evensen, C.I., Osgood, R.V., & El-Swaify, S.A. Small grain cover crops in Hawaii for erosion and weed control. A poster paper presented at the conference on "Cover Crops, Soil Quality and Ecosystems", March 12-14,1997.

1998. Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 2nd ed. Sustainable Agriculture Network, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, USA. pp. 212.

Online excerpts: http://www.sare.org/mccp2/

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Hawai`i Field Office Technical Guide, Section IV, Code 340 "Cover and Green Manure Crop" May 1992.

If you have used this plant as a green manure in the Pacific Region, please email us with COMMENTS and FEEDBACK about this plant description so we can continue to refine this educational resource.

Last updated on 9/23/02