1. Yield and grain quality of Scottish landrace
of barley (Bere) affected by nitrogen, plant
growth regulator and fungicide in Orkney
By : Syed Suhail M. Shah
PhD 3nd
Year
Supervisor (s)
Dr. Xianmin Chang (Agronomy Institute, Orkney College)
Dr. Peter Martin (Agronomy Institute, Orkney College)
Dr. James Chalmers (Orkney College)
Prof. David Robinson (UOA)
Dr. Barry Thornton (Macaulay Institute)

2. Outline
• Bere
• Production constraints
• PhD trials
– Results
• Summary
• Any question?

3. Bere
• Is a landrace of barley
• It is unique in the UK
– For bannocks
– Bread and biscuits
– Beer and Whisky
• What is a landrace?
• Why landraces?

4. Production constraints
• Lodging
• Foliar diseases
• Low grain yield (2.8-3.8 t ha-1
) compared with
(6.0-8.0 t ha-1
) of modern varieties
• Low spirit yield (351 l ha-1
vs 410 l ha-1
) due to
higher grain nitrogen content.

5. PhD research project
• Research Question:
– How does Bere differ from modern variety
• Management strategies to achieve
– High yield
– Grain quality
• The main focus was to investigate the effects of
– Nitrogen fertilizer
– Fungicide
– Plant growth regulator

6. Comparison between Bere and Optic

7. Comparison between Bere and Optic
Grain yield
3462
4269
2600
6784
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
2008 2009
Year
Grainyield(kgha-1
)
Bere Optic
33 %> Optic
37 %< than Optic

8. Comparison between Bere and Optic
(Stem length)
120
65
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Bere Optic
Stemlength(cm)
85% > Optic

9. Comparison between Bere and Optic
(Grain nitrogen content %)
1.93
1.58
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Bere Optic
Grainnitrogencontent(%)
Acceptable range is 1.45-1.65%

10. Effects of nitrogen levels
(Bere)
3040
3550
4405
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
5000
Control 45 kg 90 kg
Nitrogen fertilizer (kg ha-1
)
Grainyield(kgha-1
)
17 % > control 45 % > control

11. Effect of fungicide
(Bere)
3659
4352
3200
3400
3600
3800
4000
4200
4400
4600
Control Fungicide
Grainyield(kgha-1
)
19 %> Control

12. Effect of plant growth regulator
(Bere)
4259 4182
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
5000
Control Plant growth regulator
Grainyield(kgha-1
)

13. Nitrogen level and stem length
(Bere)
98
113
122
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Control 45 90
Nitrogen fertilizer (kg ha-1
)
Stemlength(cm)

14. Plant growth regulator and stem length
(Bere)
120
106
95
100
105
110
115
120
125
Control Plant growth regulator
Treatment
Stemlength(cm)
12% < control

15. Nitrogen level and grain nitrogen content (%)
(Bere)
1.65
1.83
1.94
1.5
1.55
1.6
1.65
1.7
1.75
1.8
1.85
1.9
1.95
2
Control 45 90
Nitrogen fertilizer (kg ha-1
)
Grainnitrogencontent(%)

16. Summary and conclusion
• Bere has a better yield stability than Optic
• Responded reasonably to inputs, however, yield gains
are lower than modern variety (s)
• Has inherently higher nitrogen content due to which it is
highly unlikely that a large area will be grown with Bere
• Its survival is based on the existence of traditional
market in Orkney
• It is important to develop niche markets and specialist
products such as Bere whisky and Island Bere (beer)
• Bere is a low risk option under lower input system and
may be suitable for organic farming which needs further
study

17. Thanks
for
Listening
Questions?