Spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an important cereal crop in Quebec, where it is used as a crop for swine and poultry. Since barley is a better source of energy than protein, a protein supplement must be added to the feed. Consequently, the production of barley with high protein concentration in the grain (GPC) is desirable. Studies on intensive cereal management (ICM) practices in other countries have shown that high yields can be combined with a high GPC. From 1987 to 1990 three field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of ICM on the yields and GPC of six-rowed spring barley in Quebec. Our results describe the effects of individual ICM components (N fertilizer application, fungicide, and plant growth regulator) on the development of yield components and on GPC. In general, N had little effect on main stem yield spike$ sp{-1}$ and on tiller spikes m$ sp{-2}$. Possibly, plant density or environmental conditions may have imposed greater limitations on yield rather than N. Nitrogen treatments increased GPC generally by increasing the amount of protein grain$ sp{-1}$. Nitrogen treatments which increased the amount of protein grain$ sp{-1}$ increased the lysine and cyst(e)ine concentrations of the grain but decreased their concentration in the grain protein. The plant growth regulator ethephon increased GPC by increasing the amount of protein grain$ sp{-1}$, by decreasing the nonprotein content grain$ sp{-1}$, or by altering final grain size distribution. Ethephon often had damaging effects on yield. Large genotypic variation was observed for GPC, but could not be related to genotypic differences in N harvest index, total N accumulation, protein yield or post-anthesis N uptake and assimilation. Grain yield was weakly correlated with GPC. Examination of the cultivars grown from 1910 to 1988 showed that increases in grain yield were accompanied by increases in harvest index, total dry matter, and lodging resistance. Plant height was reduced over tim
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.41104 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Bulman, Patrick G. M. |
| Contributors | Smith, D. L. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Plant Science.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001324350, proquestno: NN87845, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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