EFFECTS OF THE FUNGICIDE PROPICONAZOLE ON AGRONOMIC AND QUALITY TRAITS OF HULLED AND HULLESS BARLEY

The hypocholesterolemic effect of hulless waxy barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) has increased its use in food products. Hulless cultivars current ly grown in the Upper Midwest U.S. barley growing region are susceptib le to a foliar disease, spot blotch, that can severely reduce yield, S pot blotch and kernel blight generally occur in the eastern area of th e region; thus, hulless barley production is limited to the western ar ea. Research on chemical control of spot blotch and kernel disease in hulless barley genotypes grown in the Upper Midwest has not been condu cted. The objectives of this study were to determine whether natural f ield infections of the pathogen responsible for causing spot blotch an d partly responsible for causing kernel blight similarly affect kernel and flour brightness of hulled and hulless barley genotypes, and to d etermine whether disease control with the fungicide propiconazole 2-(2 ,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-propyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-yl] methyl]-1H-1,2,4-triazo le} similarly affect agronomic and quality traits of hulled and hulles s barley genotypes, Propiconazole reduced spot blotch severity. This r esulted in increased yield and yield-related traits in hulled and hull ess genotypes. Responses to propiconazole by the hulled and hulless ge notypes were generally similar for spot blotch control, and similar fo r grain yield and 1000-kernel weight. The reduction in spot blotch sev erity did not result in brighter kernels or flour, nor did it affect m ean total or soluble beta-glucan content of hulled and hulless genotyp es, Thus, hulless barley cultivars susceptible to spot blotch can be p roduced in the eastern area of the Upper Midwest barley growing region if they are protected with propiconazole.