L.F. Jackson and L.W. Gallagher

Department of Agronomy and Range Science

University of California, Davis

Barley production

Barley production in California consists primarily of fall-sown 6-row spring feed barley. Most of the acreage is concentrated in the Central (Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys) Valley and surrounding foothills and in the south-central coastal valley foothills. Barley is grown as an irrigated rotation crop in the Central Valley and as a rainfed crop in the Central Valley foothills and south-central coastal foothills. A substantial acreage of spring-sown feed (6-row) or malting (2-row, primarily) barley also is grown under irrigation in the Tulelake basin in the northeastern portion of California and serves as a rotation crop for potato. Statewide, barley was grown on 170,000 acres in 1999, the same as in 1998. Production was 4% above 1998 levels.

Crop performance was much better in 1999 than in 1998 when excessive rainfall resulted in high disease and weed pressure, severe lodging, and substantial yield losses. The 1999 season’s crop looked excellent well into April. Temperatures were cooler than normal through early spring, with about 1000 fewer growing degree-days than normal accumulated in major growing regions. Rainfall amounts were average to substantially less than average in key areas of the state. Freezing temperatures during the Easter weekend caused frost injury (resulting in moderate to complete sterility) in fields of wheat and barley in the Central Valley that were flowering or beginning to flower at that time. Disease levels were lower than in 1998, although several diseases reached severe levels in some regions of the state. Barley scald (caused by Rhynchosporium secalis) was severe on barley in nurseries in the Sacramento Valley. Disease severity reached 100% on the most susceptible entries. The new cultivar UC 937 showed excellent resistance, as did UC 603 and Nebula. Barley stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis) reached disease severity of 50-100% on susceptible lines in both the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley. UC 937 showed excellent resistance. UC 603 also had very low stripe rust severity.

The germplasm development program in California includes breeding and selection by public and private plant breeders and coordinated statewide testing of promising advanced lines from both types of programs. The objectives of the University of California barley breeding program are to (1) conduct a barley improvement program using traditional breeding methodologies with the overall goal to develop and introduce cultivars of barley with good agronomic performance and end-use properties for California farmers, and (2) maintain and develop germplasm required to sustain barley production statewide.

A small subprogram of selection was begun to create a malting barley for the Central Valley of California. The utilization of malting barleys from the Midwest and Pacific northwest by growers in the Central Valley has been prevented by the presence of three diseases i.e.: scald, stripe rust, and barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV). Two-rowed barley selections made in Mexico by the CIMMYT/ICARDA improvement program are highly adapted to California growing conditions, have good multiple disease resistance, are early to mature, and have good lodging resistance. In 1999 we submitted some of these two-rowed barley selections for evaluation to the USDA Malting Laboratory in Wisconsin. None of the nineteen selections from these materials had sufficient overall malting value, but most had low protein percentages. Of these entries 23 IBON 64 and 22 IBON 153 ranked the highest overall but were too low for malt extract, DP, and alpha-amylase activity. Other short stature materials such as BCD 7 and BCD 47 from Oregon State University provide later maturing, higher tillering, short statured phenotypes. BCD 47 is slightly high in protein and is susceptible to scald. UCD 92-5054/*2 Bowman from North Dakota State University has good resistance to BYDV, good tillering, and short stature derived from a UC dwarfing source also resistant to BYDV. An alternate breeding strategy to the above approach would be to put multiple disease resistance into a six-rowed Midwestern malting variety. Inadequate funding precludes this approach at this time.

Evaluations for the University of California Cooperative Extension statewide testing program were conducted in the intermountain valleys of northeastern California, the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, and in the south central coastal region in 1999. Entries in the tests included standard cultivars, new and soon-to-be released cultivars, and advanced breeding lines from both public and private breeding programs. The intermountain winter barley test contained 8 entries, all 6-row winter feed barleys except for one spring barley (Steptoe). Steptoe did not survive. Yields of the remaining entries were very high. There was no disease pressure. Average yields ranged from 5170 to 8570 lb/acre. Scio, Kold and Strider were the highest yielding entries. Kold and Strider were the highest yielding from 1998-99 while Strider, Scio, Kold and Westbred Sprinter were the highest yielding in the three-year period 1997-99.

The fall-sown spring barley test contained 33 entries, including 7 cultivars and 26 advanced lines from six breeding programs (University of California, Western Plant Breeders, Arizona Plant Breeders, Busch Ag Resources, Inc., CIMMYT, and World Wide Wheat). Most entries were 6-row spring feed barley, but there also were one 2-row feed barley (23 IBON 5), two 2-row malting barley (2B94-5337 and 2B96-5052) and two 6-row malting barley (6B94-7378 and 6B94-8253) entries. Stripe rust was particularly severe at Butte, UC Davis, Madera, and Kings. Cultivars UC 603 and UC 937 and advanced lines UCD 92-10585, 2B96-5052, UCD 95-3804, UCD 97-4286, UCD 97-4420, 20 IBYT 9, and 23 IBON 5 had very low disease scores (resistant). Scald was particularly severe at Butte and UC Davis. Cultivars UC 603, UC 937, and Nebula and advanced lines UCD 92-10588, UCD 92-10585, UCD 95-2407, APB A-5, APB A-27, UCD 95-3917, UCD 97-4420, and IBYT 9 had very low disease scores (resistant). Average yields ranged from 2980 lb/acre at the rainfed San Luis Obispo site to 6800 lb/acre at the Butte site. Entries UCD 92-10585, UC 937, APB A-7, APB A-20, UCD 97-4286, and UCD 92-10588 were highest yielding in the Sacramento Valley; entries UCD 97-4286, APB A-20, UC 937, APB A-7, and UCD 95-2407, in the San Joaquin Valley. In the three-year period 1997-99, entries UCD 92-10585, UCD 92-10588, and UC 937 were the highest yielding in the Sacramento Valley, entries UCD 92-10585, UCD 95-2407, and UC 937 were the highest yielding in the San Joaquin Valley, and entries UCD 92-10588, UCD 92-10585, and Arivat were the highest yielding in rainfed areas.

The intermountain spring barley test contained 30 entries (2-row and 6-row feed and malting barleys), including 18 cultivars and 12 advanced lines from ten breeding programs (University of California, Oregon State University, Busch Ag Resources, Coors, Utah State University, Washington State University, University of Saskatchewan, Western Plant Breeders, Arizona Plant Breeders, and World Wide Wheat). There was severe moisture stress at the Lassen site. BYD was moderately severe at the Siskiyou site, but no stripe rust occurred at any of the sites. Average yields ranged from 660 lb/acre at the Lassen site to 8280 lb/acre at the Tulelake site. Seven entries (Statehood, Brigham, Steptoe, UT 004603, Xena, C32, and Moravian 14) yielded over 9000 lb/acre at the Tulelake site. Over the three locations, Xena, Statehood, Steptoe, Brigham, Moravian 14 and C32 were highest yielding in 1999. In the three-year period 1997-99, UCD 92-10591 and UC 960 were highest yielding at Tulelake; Steptoe and Baronesse, at Siskiyou; and UCD 92-10657, UC 960, Steptoe and UCD 92-10591, region wide. The Western Regional Spring Barley Nursery (32 entries) was evaluated at the UC Intermountain Research and Extension Center, Tulelake. Grain yields averaged 8630 lb/acre (range 7090 to 10,890 lb/acre). There was moderate lodging, high test weights (average 51.4 lb/bu), and very little disease pressure. Entries ID 93Ab688 from Idaho and UT004467 from Utah were highest yielding.

Five fall-sown barley preliminary yield nurseries (Hooded Barley, PYT A, PYT B, PYT C, PYT D) containing 32, 34, 34, 36, and 35 entries, respectively, of advanced breeding lines from the UC barley breeding program, were evaluated at UC Davis. The hooded barley test included lines derived from crosses between Hooded Atlas/Sutter and either UC 337 or NK1272. Eleven lines were selected from the nursery for further evaluation because of increased productivity, disease resistance and improved foliage characteristics compared to the standard hooded barley cultivar, Belford. The fall-sown PYT nurseries contained F₆ lines from crosses between UC 828 and UC 960 (PYT – A and B), miscellaneous advanced lines, crossing block selections, and the 21^st IBYT nursery from CIMMYT/ICARDA (PYT – C and D). Based on grain yield, disease resistance, lodging resistance, and maturity, 6 selections were advanced to the 1999/2000 UC regional barley test. Two spring sown barley preliminary yield nurseries (PYT A and PYT B), each containing 36 advanced breeding lines from the UC barley breeding program, were evaluated at the UC Intermountain Research and Extension Center, Tulelake. The lines were derived from crosses between advanced breeding lines and the 2-row malting barley cultivars B1202, Klages, or Crystal. Based on grain yield, bushel weight, lodging resistance, and maturity, 6 selections were advanced to the 2000 UC intermountain spring barley test (to be sown in mid April).

Barley stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis) reached disease severity of 50-100% on susceptible lines in both the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley. UC 937 showed excellent resistance. UC 603 also had very low stripe rust severity. Rust collections submitted to USDA from California in 1999 included 28 collections of wheat stripe rust, 10 collections of wheat leaf rust, and 10 collections of barley stripe rust. Estimates of statewide losses due to rust diseases were 7.5% for wheat stripe rust, 1% for wheat leaf rust, and 2.5% for barley stripe rust. For the year 2000 season (sown in fall, 1999) about 3000 barley lines from the USDA small grains collection and barley programs from throughout the U.S. are being screened for stripe rust resistance at UC Davis with funding from the winter nursery program of the American Malting Barley Association.

Barley seed treatments (9) were compared with the standard RTU Vitavax-thiram and an untreated control for phytotoxicity, control of seedborne diseases, and the ability to retard the development of foliar diseases on two barley cultivars, Gustoe and UC 937. The experiment was conducted on the UC Davis Agronomy Farm. On barley, scald was detected first in early March on the cultivar Gustoe (late tillering stage), while stripe rust was first detected on that cultivar in late March. Both scald and stripe rust were severe on Gustoe by the early dough stage, but there were no significant seed treatment effects on disease severity. Aphid populations developed to a peak in mid-April. There were significant seed treatment effects for yield and aphid population level. The treatments Raxil/thiram and LS 176 (higher rate) + Allegiance had the lowest yields (particularly with the cultivar Gustoe). The RTU Vitavax-Thiram + Gaucho 480 treatment suppressed the aphid population (made-up primarily of oat-bird cherry aphid), and along with Dividend XL, Raxil XT, and RTU PCNB had the higher grain yields. There were no significant seed treatment effects on plant development variables.