Pearl(ed) barley, where the outer husk and part of the bran layer is ground off
the seed (leaving only the “pearl”), and also naked barley, is eaten by humans.
Barley flour can be made from pearl barley, to make flat (unleavened) bread.
Hulled barley (barley groats) is the least processed form of barley, with only
the outermost hull removed.
Barley water is made by soaking pot (Scotch) or pearl barley, often flavoured
with lemon or orange.
The straw can be used as fuel, or fed to animals; it has a low food value and is
often more suitable than wheat straw as animal bedding, being both softer and
more absorbent.
Barley can be very useful where the soils are saline, though the tolerance to
salinity varies with the variety.
LIMITATIONS
less tolerant of acid soils than wheat, and soils should be no more acidic than
problem is reduced by applying hormone growth regulators such as Ethepon,
Terpal, Cerone, Meteor, Moddus, etc. which either reduce stem length and/or
malting varieties.
Buckwheat
Fagopyrum esculentum (Syn. F. sagittatum, F. vulgare)
Beechwheat, Brank, Fagopyrum, French Wheat, Garden Buckwheat, Saracen Corn,
Blé Noir (French); Buchweizen (German); Trigo (Grano) Sarraceno, Trigo Negro,
Alforfón (Spanish); Fagópiro, Trigo Sarraceno, Trigo Mouro, Trigo Prêto
(Portuguese)
Buckwheat belongs to the Polygonaceae family (the docks) and is therefore, strictly
speaking, not a true cereal (Gramineae). However the grain is very similar to the
true cereals and Buckwheat is normally regarded as a cereal crop. It is normally
consumed more or less locally, though there is an increasing international trade. It is
thought to have originated in China.
On good soils, Buckwheat is less productive than other cereals, but it is well
adapted to arid, hilly land and cool climates. It tolerates acidic, heavy and poor soils,
but they must be well drained. It also tolerates dry and arid conditions.
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110 TONY WINCH
Barley grain is not easily prepared and eaten as human food.
Rough-awned types used for hay or silage may damage the mouths of livestock.
The growing crop needs either regular rainfall or irrigation.
It does not tolerate heavy, poorly drained soils, nor very light sandy soils. It is
pH6.
Plants tend to lodge very readily. In some modern agricultural systems this
thicken the stem walls.
In dry climates much of the grain can be lost due to shattering, especially
Sarrasin, Boekweit, Ch lao Mai, Hua Ch lao, Qamh Al Baqar, T len Ch lao, Wu Mai.
