The effect of a fungicide application on the yield and quality of barley grain and malt

Abstract

In small-plot field trials conducted in 2000-2002 we studied the effect of fungicides on the yield and selected technological parameters of grain of malt barley and on malt. For the treatment we used Cerelux (active ingredients: fenpropimorph, flusilazole), Amistar (azoxystrobin) and Caramba (metconazole) applied in two stages of stand development (DC 47 and 55). Compared to the untreated control plants the yield grains ranged between 6.9 and 16.5% after the application of fungicides. The application of fungicides increased the proportion of full grains and had a favourable effect on the chemical composition of grain. After the treatment with azoxystrobin the content of N-substances decreased from 11.43 to 11.07% as compared to the controls. The highest starch content of grain was observed after the application of the active ingredient metconazole; the average content ranged between 64.44 and 64.62%. Compared to the controls the highest relative yield of malt starch (124.2-125.2%) was achieved after the application of azoxystrobin or a combination of azoxystrobin and metconazole in the DC 47 stage. The highest average attainable degree of fermentation was 78.57% and was discovered in the untreated control.

Keywords

• malt barley
• malt
• fungicide
• yields
• grain quality