System of management and mineral nitrogen rates influences on the yield and malting characterisctics of winter barley

Abstract

The production of home grown malting barley is small, even that in the past it was confirmed that quality malting barley could be grown in Slovenia. Nitrogen is one of the factors which have beside positive influence on the yield strong influence on the characteristics of grain and malt, which are checked by malters. Too high N rates on one hand lower malting quality and on the other hand small N rates mean small yield what lowers financial income. The aim of the research was to evaluate the influence of mineral N rate (0, 55, 110, 165 kg N ha-1) in two different systems of management (animal manure ploughing in; straw, maize straw ploughing in and green manure) on the yield and malting characteristics of winter barley, which gives better yields as spring barley. Analyses of grain and malt of two-rowed winter malting barley cv. Rex in 1998 and 1999 showed that the most appropriate mineral N rate between examined ones was 55 kg N ha-1 at both systems of management. If there were differences between systems of management or not depended on season. Increased rates of mineral N did not worsen most of the malt characteristics, but had strong influence, together with season, on grain protein content. Mineral N fertilising worsened extract content, but in both seasons there were no significant differences between variants, fertilised with different amounts of mineral N.