Growing winter barley hopes from Impromalt

Spring barley quality in winter varieties

Winter barleys have historically made little impact on the Scottish malting market but that could be about to change, according to Dr Bill Thomas of the James Hutton Institute.

He told growers at the Cereals in Practice event in Aberdeenshire that the Impromalt project was proceeding well and it was proving possible to incorporate spring barley quality into much higher-yielding winter varieties.

The advantages of such an approach were obvious this year, with spring barleys throughout Scotland under stress while winter types looked much more resilient.

“We don’t produce enough malting barley in Scotland. The demand for the important whisky industry is about one million tonnes per year, but we can only produce about 750,000 tonnes domestically with the rest coming from England or elsewhere.”

He said they have been able to identify genes in spring barley related to quality and are “working through the Impromalt project to introgress these into winter barley, and if this succeeds we could produce a bigger and more secure tonnage of early maturing barley here in Scotland”.

The new varieties on trial have been produced by conventional crossing, but recent advances in molecular marker technology have made it possible to precisely identify the relevant genes.

Low grain nitrogen content is far from the only quality trait involved.

“Winter barleys traditionally have a lower spirit yield per tonne than spring varieties and, although it is possible to argue that the spirit yield per hectatre is higher with winter types, upping processing quality is a key objective,” said Dr Thomas.

The Impromalt project involves a consortium of UK breeders, research organisations and maltsters, with the results being freely exchanged within the group. Progress had been such that new improved winter malting varieties could be on the market by 2025.

The loss of chemical seed treatment was creating renewed interest in biological treatments, according to Professor Fiona Burnett of Scotland’s Rural College.

The Mains of Loirston Trust is funding trial work into natural products, known as elicitors, which stimulate the defence mechanisms in plants.

Prof Burnett said: “Most plants have the ability to defend themselves, but speed of response can be critical.

“Some elicitors can be used as seed treatments but most are foliar applications which should be used very early in the plant protection programme.”

They are unlikely to be cheaper than conventional products but could form a useful part of an integrated pest management system.

Cereals in Practice is to be relaunched as Arable Scotland next year, and the event will return to the James Hutton Institute’s farm near Dundee.

could produce a bigger and more secure tonnage of early maturing barley. DR BILL THOMAS

Exhibition plots at the Cereals in Practice event, where the Impromalt project was in the spotlight.