04 Apr Advancements in salt tolerant barley variety development in India
भारत में नमक सहिष्णु जौ किस्म के विकास में प्रगति Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is the fourth most important crop of the world after rice, wheat and maize with respect to area and production. It is known as a hardy crop compared to wheat, rice and maize and more suitable for areas with limited water (drought or less water availability), nutrients and soil health (salinity/alkalinity). The geographical range in which barley can be grown as a staple crop is quite wide and therefore it is grown from sub-tropical and arid plains to hills and cold desert ecologies under rainfed or limited irrigated conditions around the world except tropics. It is an ancient crop domesticated in pre-historic era with proposed centres of origin in Near East (Fertile Crescent) and South East Asia (China, Tibet and Nepal). During the course of evolution, barley has dichotomised in six-row and two-row types where six-row type barley is used mainly as feed and food while the two-row type is utilized for malting purposes. The preferred six row type barley used for food purposes is the husk less (naked) barley where the grain is free threshing similar to wheat i.e., the outer husk gets removed during the course of threshing and the grains do not require a mechanical processing (pearling)...