Early sowing benefits forage and grain production in dual-use barley

Sowing date is an important management factor in determining the success of dual-use (DU) barley production. A 2-yr field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of four sowing dates (30 Sep., 10 Oct., 20 Oct., and 30 Oct.) on yield and quality of four DU barley varieties. Early sowing increased both forage and grain yields, with maximum forage dry matter yield (DMY) of 114.96 g m−2 and grain yield (GY) of 0.55 kg m−2 obtained from the earliest sowing (30 Sep.). Forage removal from the other two earlier sowing dates (10 Oct. and 20 Oct.) caused GY reduction compared with the uncut control (30 Oct.). The trade-off between reduced thousand grain weight (TGW) and increased grain number per spike (GNPS) occurred from the earliest sowing and jointly prevented a GY penalty after forage removal so that higher revenue was obtained in the DU system. Barley genotypes differed significantly in both yield and quality for DU, so improvement through selection should be possible. Year effects were also large in the DU system. It is profitable to plant suitable varieties on 30 Sep. to harvest greater forage biomass without decreasing grain yield for DU barley production in south-central China.