Productivity and profitability of malt barley (Hordeum vulgare) varieties at different nitrogen levels under saline water irrigation

A field experiment was conducted at Hisar, Haryana during the winter (rabi) seasons of 2017–18 and 2018–19, to study the growth, yield and economics of 4 varieties, viz. ‘BH 902’, ‘BH 946’, ‘BH 885’ and ‘DWRB 101’ of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) at different nitrogen levels (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg/ha) under saline-water irrigation. Variety ‘BH 946’ recorded significantly higher dry-matter accumulation, leaf-area index, grains/spike, grain yield, gross returns, net returns and benefit: cost ratio, while variety ‘DWRB 101’ produced significantly higher number of effective tillers, spike length and 1,000-grain weight than ‘BH 902’, ‘BH 946’ and ‘BH 885’ varieties. Variety ‘BH 946’ gave 5.1, 7.3 and 14.7% higher grain yield and 7.2, 8.0 and 19.1% higher net returns than ‘DWRB 101’, ‘BH 902’ and ‘BH 885’ varieties, respectively. Nitrogen levels significantly increased growth and yield attributes over the control. Each increment of nitrogen dose resulted in significantly higher grain yield, straw yield, gross returns, net returns and benefit: cost ratio only up to 60 kg/ha and further increasing the dose to 90 kg N/ha did not show any significant improvement. For getting higher productivity and profitability, malt barley variety ‘BH 946’ with 60 kg N/ha under saline water irrigation was found most suitable.