Vol. 14(xx8), pp.

503-508, 21 February, 2019

DOI: 10.5897/AJAR2018.13846
Article Number: 89FE82260325
ISSN 1991-637X
Copyright©2018 African Journal of Agricultural
Author(s) retain the copyright of this article
http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR Research

Full Length Research Paper

Malt Barley (Hordeum distichon L.) varieties

performance evaluation in North Shewa, Ethiopia
Wegayehu Felek Bizuneh* and Derib Alemu Abebe
Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource Science, Debre Berhan University, P. O. Box
445, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia.
Received 30 December, 2018; Accepted 22 February, 2019

Malt barley is the most important cereal crop grown in highland parts of Ethiopia. Even though Ethiopia
has favorable environment and potential market opportunity, the share of malting barley production is
quite low (about 15%) as compared to food barley. One reason for low production is the use of low
yielding varieties. The present investigation was conducted in a randomized complete block design
with three replications in Debre Berhan, Ethiopia, during 2015 and 2016 main cropping seasons to
assess the performance of malt barley varieties for yield and yield related traits. Eight released and
promising genotypes (Beka, EH1847, Bahati, Bekoji-01, Traveller, Holker, Sabini and Miskal-21) were
evaluated. The mean square due to genotypes, year, and interaction effect were significant (P<0.05) for
all traits studied except harvest index. Variety by year interaction effect also differed significantly for all
characters except spike weight and harvest index. The highest yields were found from EH1847, Beka
and Holker, (3.69, 3.53 and 3.72 ton/ha respectively) while the lowest yield (2.72 ton/ha) was recorded
from Miskal-21. Variety EH1847 scored high yielding in both years hence, the use of either of EH1847
variety with full package for mass production in Debre Berhan and similar agroecology would increase
malt barley production.

Key words: Evaluation, malt barley (Hordeum distichon L.), variety selection, yield, correlation.

INTRODUCTION

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the most staple food and area covered by barley in Amhara Region is about
subsistence crop in the country. It is grown in diverse 323,600 hectares (CSA, 2017). Cultivated barley is
environments with the altitude range of 1500 and 3500 normally divided into three subgroups; six-row (H.
masl, but predominantly grown from 2000 to 3000 masl vulgare), two-row (Hordeum distichon) and the seldom
(Berhane et al., 1996). It is the fifth most cultivated crop cultivated intermediate (Hordeum irregulare).
of the world (Eshghi and Akhundova, 2010). In Ethiopia, it Both two-row and six-row barleys are used for malting,
is ranked fifth next to tef, wheat, maize and sorghum but the best malt quality for beer is produced from two-
(CSA, 2017). In 2016/2017 cropping season the total row varieties. The international and national demand of

*Corresponding author. E-mail: dear.nayadi@gmail.com. Tel: +251912228591.

Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 International License
504 Afr. J. Agric. Res.

Table 1. Description of malt barley varieties evaluated at Debre Berhan during 2015 and 2016 main cropping season in North Shewa zone,
Ethiopia.

Recommended agro-ecology zone

Varieties Year of release Released center Grain yield (t/ha) at a time of release
Altitude (masl)
EH1847 2011 HARC 3.5-4.0 2300-2800
Traveler 2013 Heinken/HARC 20-40 2000-2600
Miscal-21 2006 HARC 2.5-4.6 1550-2850
Sabini 2011 KARC/HARC 2.5-3.0 2300-2800
Bahati 2011 KARC/HARC 2.5-3.0 2300-2800
Beka 1973 HARC 2.5-3.8 2300-2800
Bekoji-01 2010 KARC 3.5-4.0 2300-3000
Holker 1979 HARC 2.4-3.1 2300-3000
HARC: Holeta Agricultural Research Center, KARC: Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center Crop Variety Register (1995-2016).

malt barley is directly associated with the expansion of Data collection and analysis
the brewery industries. In Ethiopia, malt barley is the
Data were collected on days to heading, days to maturity, biomass,
major (90%) raw material for beer production (MoARD, spike length, spike weight, plant height, number of tiller per plant,
2010); hence the country faced a shortage of malt barley spike weight, number of kernels per spike, thousand kernel weights,
to meet the demand of the local breweries (Mohammed grain yield, and harvest index. The data were collected from eight
and Getachew, 2003). To fulfill the increasing malt barley middle rows. Replications and years were considered as random
demand, and to ensure higher cash return to the farmers, effects whereas varieties were considered as fixed effect. To reveal
expansion of the malt barley production is very important. the total variability present within the tested varieties, the data were
computed for all the characters measured as per Gomez and
Even though Ethiopia has favorable environment and Gomez (1984). The data were subjected to analysis of variance
potential market opportunity, the share of malting barley (ANOVA) following statistical procedures appropriate for the
production is quite low (about 15%) as compared to food experimental design using Statistical Analysis System (SAS)
barley. The local malt barley production covers about program package version 9.1. Whenever treatment effects were
35% malt demands; as a result the breweries are forced significant at 0.05 level of error, the means were delineated by
to import malt from abroad (Molla et al., 2018). One using the least significant difference (LSD) procedures. Correlation
analyses were determined through simple correlation coefficient
reason for low production, particularly at Debre Berhan is between yield and other traits studied.
the lack of improved malt barley varieties. To challenge
the boosting demand and stunted supply of malt barley, it
is important to make malt barley varieties evaluation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Hence, the present investigation is set with the objective
of evaluating and selecting adaptable and high yielding Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out to
malt barley variety (ies). determine the main effect of varieties, years and their
interaction on yield and yield components of malt barley
varieties (Table 2). There were statistically significant
MATERIALS AND METHODS (P<0.05) variation in varieties and years for all
investigated traits except harvest index. Variety by year
The study was conducted at Debre Berhan during the main
cropping season for two years (2015 and 2016). Debre Berhan is interaction also differed significantly for all characters
located in the North Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, about 130 except harvest index and spike weight. This result is in
kilometers north east of Addis Ababa on the paved highway to agreement with Daniel (2010), Yetsedaw et al. (2013)
Dessie, the town has a latitude and longitude of 9°41’N39°32’E and and Bankole et al. (2015).
an altitude of 2840 masl. The annual average temperature and The mean performances across the two years for all
rainfall is 12.85°C and 927 mm respectively.
The experiment comprised eight nationally released malt barley
studied traits are presented in Table 3. Days to heading
varieties (Traveler, Sabini, Bekoji, Bahati, EH-1847, Beka, Holker, ranged from 78.17-88.17 days, and Sabini was early to
and Miskal-21) (Table 1). The varieties were laid out in Randomized heading whereas Beka was too late to head. It takes 125
Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The days to mature for variety Sabini and for Beka 143.33
experimental plot contained ten rows of 2.5 m length with the days. Maximum plant height (126.85 cm) was recorded
spacing of 0.2 m between rows. The spacing between plot and for Beka, while minimum (81.18 cm) for Traveler. Bekoji-
blocks were 0.5 and 1 m respectively. Planting was carried out by
hand drilling using seed rate of 100 kg/ha. Recommended fertilizer 01 needs shortest (43.5) days to fill grain, whereas
rate of 100 kg/ha Urea and 100 kg/ha NPS was used as per the Traveler needs 56.33 days. Total biomass yield varied
package. During initial crop development weed management was from 8.45 -11.92 tons per hectare with a mean of 11.42,
carried out manually to avoid competition and weed interference. and 11.92 tons per hectare was recorded for Bahati and
 Bizuneh and Abebe 505

Table 2. Mean squares from combined analysis of variance for the effects of year, and variety on different parameters studied evaluated in
2015 and 2016 at Debre Berhan.

Year (Y) Rep.(R) Variety (V) G*Y Error 2

Traits Mean R CV (%)
(Df = 1) (Df= 4) (Df=7) (Df = 7) (Df=28
ns
DH 75.00*** 0.13 63.38*** 3.62*** 0.34 82.50 0.98 0.71
ns
GFP 221.02*** 0.15 111.35*** 5.07*** 0.41 50.48 0.99 1.26
DM 200.08*** 0.77* 162.38*** 1.85*** 0.25 131.58 0.99 0.38
ns
PH 921.38*** 61.57 1171.36*** 325.59*** 41.17 103.29 0.91 6.21
ns
FTNPP 199.27*** 1.40 16.56*** 15.82*** 0.95 11.33 0.94 8.59
ns
SL(cm) 1.66*** 0.04 3.15*** 0.50*** 0.03 7.57 0.97 2.35
ns
NKPS 8.38* 0.70 13.89*** 8.06*** 1.47 27.05 0.80 4.49
ns
SW(g) 0.71*** 0.01 0.06* 0.25ns 0.02 1.37 0.68 10.87
ns
TSW(g) 5143.95*** 47.74 102.53* 93.94* 34.64 83.55 0.87 7.04
ns
TBY/Ha (ton) 5.93*** 0.31 9.75*** 6.37*** 0.37 10.10 0.93 6.00
ns
GY/ha (ton) 5.65*** 0.01 0.70*** 0.465*** 0.026 3.30 0.95 4.93
HI 0.003 0.0002 0.005 0.004 0.0004 0.32 0.87 5.99
*, ** and *** = significant at P<0.05, P<0.01, and P<0.001, respectively. ns = nonsignificant difference, Days to Heading (DH), grain filling period
(GFP), Days to maturity (DM), Plant Height (PH), Fertile tiller number per plant (FTNPP), Spike length (SL), Number of kernels per spike (NKPS),
Spike weight (SW), Thousand seed weight (TSW), Total biomass yield (TBY), grain yield (GY), and Harvest Index (HI).

Holker varieties. highly significant difference indicating differential varieties

Number of kernels per spike was also significant performance in each year. The variation of rainfall
(P<0.01) among varieties, maximum number of kernel amount and distribution of the years 2015 and 2016
per spike (27.76, 28.19 and 28.56) was recorded for might have contributed significantly to the differences
EH1847, Beka and Bekoji-01 respectively. Similarly, observed between the years for the characters studied.
reports have shown the variation of number of kernels Significant variety by year interaction has also been
per spike as a function of barley genotypes (Ryan et al., reported by different scholars (Afzal et al., 2011; Anley et
2009; Biruk et al., 2016). In terms of fertile tiller number al., 2013; Bankole et al., 2015). Most varieties perform
EH1847 and Beka give highest tiller number and they better for plant height, fertile tiller number, thousand seed
were statistically at par with the score of 13.52 and 12.6 weight, total biomass and grain yield in 2016 compared to
respectively. The least fertile tiller producer variety was 2015 season (Table 4). Variety EH1847 is high yielding in
Miskal-21 (8.15). The longest spike length (8.8 cm) was both years, whereas Miskal-21 variety was the least.
recorded for Beka and shortest (6.58 cm) for Holker.
Thousand kernel weight was significantly different among
the varieties. This result agrees with those obtained by Correlation between traits taken
other authors (Rashid and Khad, 2008; Bagheri and
Sadeghipour, 2009), who reported significant variation Correlation analysis provides the information of
between malt barley genotypes in number of kernels per interrelationship of important plant characters and hence
spike. The range observed for thousand seed weight was leads to a directional model for direct and indirect
79.5-89.97 g with overall mean of 83.5 g. Highest improvement in grain yield (Khan et al., 2004).
thousand seed weight (89.97, 88.68 and 86.15 g) was Correlation coefficient among yield and yield components
recorded for Behati, Holker and Bekoji-01 respectively, is presented in Table 5. The correlation analysis indicates
which is also in line with findings of Aliyi et al. (2016). The there was significant positive relation between grain yield
mean grain yield ranged from 2.72-3.72 tons per hectare. and date of maturity, plant height, fertile tiller number,
The highest grain yield (3.72, 3.69 and 3.53 t/ha) was number of kernel per spike, thousand seed weight, and
recorded by Holker followed by EH1847 and Beka while total biomass yield. A positive and highly significant (r =
the least was recorded by Miskal-21 (2.72 t/ha). The best 0.604) correlation between grain yield and fertile tiller
yielding ability of EH1847 variety might be attributed to number was found, while a very weak but non-significant
larger tiller number per plant, number of kernel per spike, (r = 0.031) correlation between grain yield and spike
and thousand seed weight. This is in line with Moral et al. length was also noticed. This suggests that grain yield
(2002), who reported that the number of fertile tiller will increase at longest maturity period, highest plant
number per plant, number of kernel per spike and height, fertile tiller number, kernel number per spike,
thousand seed weight are important features of cereals in thousand seed weight, and total biomass yield. Total
determining the yield potential. biomass yield correlated with date of heading, plant
The result of variety by year interaction effect shows a height, and number of kernel per spike (r = 0.423, r =
506 Afr. J. Agric. Res.

Table 3. Combined mean performance of malt barley varieties for yield and yield components evaluated in 2015 and 2016 at Debre Berhan.

TSW TBY/Ha GY/ha

Varieties DH GFP DM PH (cm) FTNPP SL (cm) NKPS SW (g) HI
(g) (ton) (ton)
a d a a ab a a b c bc ab de
Beka 88.17 51.83 140.33 126.85 12.60 8.80 28.19 1.35 79.50 11.07 3.53 0.32
f c e cd a b a b c d a a
EH1847 79.17 52.83 129.33 98.12 13.52 8.20 27.76 1.28 80.37 9.93 3.69 0.38
b h g b bc e a b abc cd d de
Bekoji-1 85.00 43.50 127.00 111.77 12.22 7.09 28.56 1.35 86.15 10.40 3.15 0.31
c e d b bcd f b b ab ab a cd
Holker 83.83 50.00 133.17 108.90 11.83 6.58 26.08 1.40 88.68 11.42 3.72 0.33
d a b e e c ab b c e cd bc
Travller 81.67 56.33 135.83 81.18 10.05 7.97 27.31 1.38 79.93 8.98 3.17 0.35
g f h d de d ab b c e d ab
Sabini 78.17 48.33 125.00 90.95 10.97 7.46 27.45 1.32 81.47 8.45 3.07 0.36
c g f b f d c b bc e e ef
Miskal-21 83.17 46.33 127.67 108.65 8.15 7.49 23.75 1.29 82.37 9.15 2.72 0.3
e b c c cd e ab a a a bc f
Bahati 80.83 54.67 134.33 99.87 11.30 6.94 27.28 1.59 89.97 11.92 3.36 0.28
Mean 82.50 50.48 131.58 103.29 11.33 7.57 27.05 1.37 83.55 10.10 3.10 0.32
R2 0.98 0.99 0.99 0.91 0.94 0.97 0.80 0.68 0.87 0.93 0.95 0.87
CV (%) 0.71 1.26 0.38 6.21 8.59 2.35 4.49 10.87 7.04 6.00 5.36 5.99

Table 4. Mean performance of some traits of malt barley varieties across two consecutive years.

2015 2016
Varieties
PH (cm) FTNPP TSW (g) TBY/Ha (ton) GY/ha (ton) PH (cm) FTNPP TSW (g) TBY/Ha (ton) GY/ha (ton)
a abc b bc bc a ab ab a
Beka 120.27 9.0 69.77 10.53 2.87 133.43 16.2 89.23 11.6 4.19
c ab b d a bcd a a a
Eh1847 88.0 9.83 63.8 7.73 3.28 108.23 17.2 96.93 12.13 4.10
a ab a c ab cde c bc cd
Bekoji-1 119.7 10.23 79.9 9.73 3.08 103.83 14.20 92.40 11.07 3.22
b a a ab ab bc c abc b
Holker 107.9 10.43 80.9 11.33 3.14 109.9 13.23 96.45 11.5 3.7
d bc b d e de d cd a
Travller 66.1 8.67 68.1 7.37 2.37 96.27 11.43 91.75 10.6 3.97
c bc b d cd e c de c
Sabini 86.77 8.63 69.17 7.2 2.7 95.13 13.3 93.77 9.7 3.43
b abc b c de b e e e
Miskal-21 100.13 9.43 68.8 9.37 2.47 117.17 6.87 95.93 8.9 2.97
b c a a ab cde bc e de
Bahati 102.37 8.1 85.17 12.27 3.15 97.37 14.83 94.77 8.8 3.1
LSD 9.03 1.7 9.48 1.17 0.28 13.08 1.68 11.07 0.91 0.24

0.475 (P<0.01), and r = 0.293 (P<0.05) as a result of expansion of the brewery industries. higher grain yield to replace the existing low
respectively). However, malt barley production is unable to feed yielding malt barley varieties. Malt barley seed
the malt barley market demand of the country. production can be enhanced through selecting
Lack of improved varieties leads greatly to low varieties suitable for the area, which may result in
Conclusion production in the study area. Development of varietal diversity for producers. The finding
superior crop varieties and/ or variety selection is generated from the investigation discovered the
The national demand of malt barley is increasing the ultimate goal of the plant breeders to obtain presence of significant difference among
 Bizuneh and Abebe 507

Table 5. Correlation coefficients of different traits of malt barley varieties combined over years.

DH DM PH FTN SL (cm) NKPS SWt (g) TSWt (g) TBY (t/ha) GY (t/ha)
DH 1
DM 0.326* 1
PH 0.704** 0.209ns 1
FTN 0.338* 0.454** 0.227ns 1
SL (cm) 0.078ns 0.078ns 0.059ns 0.089ns 1
NKPS 0.177ns 0.186ns 0.145ns 0.599** 0.268ns 1
SWt (g) -0.207ns -0.24ns -0.142ns -0.537** -0.157ns -0.13ns 1
TSWt (g) 0.303* 0.573** 0.248ns 0.447** -0.258ns 0.136ns -0.328* 1
TBY (ha/ton) 0.423** 0.088ns 0.475** 0.011ns -0.071ns 0.293* 0.275ns 0.110ns 1
GY (ha/ton) 0.182ns 0.335* 0.372** 0.604** 0.031ns 0.452** -0.207ns 0.445** 0.331* 1
HI 0.017ns 0.262ns -0.076ns 0.289* 0.106ns -0.036ns -0.399** 0.487** -0.585** 0.131ns
*And ** = significant different at 0.05 and 0.01 level, respectively.

the varieties, and variety by year interaction for NKPS, number of kernel per spike; SW, Spike Aliyi K, Obsa C, Siyoum A, Yeared T (2016). Adaptability study
of malt barley varieties at high land of Guji Zone, Southern
most parameters studied. On the bases of two weight; TSW, thousand seed weight; TBY/Ha,
Oromia. Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare 6:13.
years results of the study at Debre Berhan total biomass yield per hectare; GY/Ha, Grain Anley W, Zeleke H, Dessalegn Y (2013). Genotype X
EH1847 performs best and maintains consistency yield per hectare; HI, Harvest index; ANOVA, Environment Interaction of Maize (Zea Mays L.) across
in yielding potential in both years (3.69ton/ha). Analysis of variance; CV, coefficient of variance; North Western Ethiopia. Journal of Plant Breeding and Crop
Science pp. 171-181.
This variety also scored high value in number of
Bagheri A, Sadeghipour O (2009). Effects of Salt stress on
fertile tiller number (13.52) and number of kernel yield, yield components and carbohydrates content in four
per spike (27.76) which was highly correlated with CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
hullless barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars. Journal of
grain yield. Therefore, authors recommend variety Biological Sciences 9:909-912.
EH1847 for mass production; as a result small The authors have not declared any conflict of Bankole FA, Olaoye G, Adeyemo E (2015). Evaluation of
interests. Genotype x year interaction extra-early maturing maize
scale farmers can boost their income. However, hybrids in a typical southern guinea savannah ecology.
further investigation is recommended on other Agrosearch 15(2):73-92.
improved varieties for stability over locations and Berhane Lakew, Hailu Gebre and Fekadu Alemayehu (1993).
years for yield and yield related traits since most ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Barley production and research. pp. 1-8. In: Hailu Gebre
and Joob Van Luer (eds). Barley Research in Ethiopia: Past
of the customers were looking for high yielder, work and future prospects. Addis Ababa, IAR/ICARDA.
adaptable and stable malt barley variety. The authors would like to thank Debre Berhan
Proceeding of the first Barley Research Review Workshop
University for financing this research. pp. 16-19.
Biruk G, Demelash K (2016). Effect of Nitrogen Fertilizer level
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