The first question growers ask about Ramata is usually the same: how much does it yield per decare? The data sheet gives two figures — 350-400 kg per decare under rainfed conditions and 600-1000 kg under irrigation. The distance between the two ranges looks wide at first sight, but that is exactly what happens in the field: seed from the same bag gives two different results on two neighbouring fields. What stands in between is not the variety but the water the field saw that year, the sowing date, the seed rate per decare and the timing of the fertiliser. Ramata is a six-row feed barley registered in 2015; in the registration trials it came first among the six-row varieties with 694.1 kg per decare. That figure belongs to a field where all four of those things fell into place.
Before the figure: the four things that decide yield
The answer to the yield question begins on the data sheet but does not end there. The first factor is water: the amount and timing of rainfall, and on an irrigated field the number of waterings. Most of the difference between rainfed and irrigated conditions comes from here. The second factor is the sowing date. On a late-sown field the crop enters winter without developing enough, tillering stays weak and that goes straight into the number of ears; we covered this in detail in our article on the sowing time of winter barley.
The third factor is the seed rate. For Ramata the data sheet gives 25-30 kg per decare under rainfed conditions and 22-25 kg under irrigation, and that range already accounts for the loss at emergence. Going above the range does not bring yield; as the stand thickens the plants have to share water and nutrients, stems thin out and ears stay weak. We set out that calculation with figures in how much seed per decare. The fourth factor is fertiliser and management: nitrogen given at the right time decides the number of ears and the filling of the grain, while nitrogen given at the wrong time enlarges the risk of lodging.
Irrigation: how many waterings and when
On a field where irrigation is possible, we recommend three waterings. The first is the emergence watering: the water that secures germination and an even emergence after sowing. When the soil does not hold enough moisture, or when no rain follows the sowing, the seed waits in the ground; the emergence watering removes that wait and lets the crop enter winter with its roots established. That evenness at emergence affects everything afterwards, because a thin and patchy stand is not easy to make up for in spring.
The remaining two waterings we leave to the spring and give them according to need. The year’s rainfall, the moisture the soil holds and the look of the crop decide whether those two are given at all and, if so, when. In a wet spring the second watering may not be needed; in a dry spring both come into play. There are two periods in spring where water does the most work: stem elongation and the milk stage. Water at stem elongation decides how many tillers turn into ears, and a shortage in that period lowers the number of grains per ear. Water at the milk stage feeds the grain and protects grain size and hectolitre weight.
The timing of the last watering is a separate matter: on shallow-rooted and sandy soils it is advised to stop irrigating about seven to ten days before the dough stage begins. Excess water given late adds nothing to the grain and instead raises the risk of lodging. Ramata’s stem is thick and strong and the data sheet describes it as resistant to lodging; even so, when excess water and excess nitrogen come together no variety is entirely safe.
Fertiliser: phosphorus at the base, nitrogen split
The starting point of a sound fertiliser plan is a soil analysis. An analysis taken a month and a half to two months before sowing leaves nothing about the field’s needs to guesswork. Where there is no analysis, the ranges widely accepted for the region give direction: under rainfed conditions 5-9 kilograms of pure nitrogen and 5-9 kilograms of phosphorus per decare, under irrigation 10-14 kilograms of nitrogen and 7-12 kilograms of phosphorus. These figures are for the pure nutrient; how many kilograms of the product that means is calculated from the fertiliser’s own analysis.
Giving all of the phosphorus at sowing, as base fertiliser placed in the row by the drill, is the most effective route; phosphorus moves slowly in the soil, so spreading it on the surface later does not do the same job. Nitrogen we give in splits. The common pattern is a part of the nitrogen at sowing or at the start of tillering and the rest before stem elongation. If the top dressing is to be given in one go, towards the end of tillering is the more accurate moment; on an irrigated field splitting it three ways is also preferred. Under rainfed conditions, where rainfall is not guaranteed, choosing ammonium sulphate over urea is a widespread practice in the region.
The cost of too much nitrogen shows in the field: the plant grows tall quickly, the stem tissue stays weak, the dense canopy does not air out so disease takes hold more easily, and one rain or wind brings lodging. On a lodged field both the yield and the quality of the harvest fall. Ramata’s disease side gives some comfort here: it is tolerant to powdery mildew and rust, and tolerant to barley leaf stripe and leaf spot as well.
After the harvest: hectolitre, protein and straw
Yield is not only how many kilograms come off a decare; the quality of those kilograms enters the account too. Ramata’s hectolitre weight is 64-67 kg/hl and its thousand-grain weight 35-38 grams. Hectolitre is the quality measure looked at most closely when barley is bought; publications cite a threshold of 64 kg/hl for first-class barley. Purchase scales are updated from year to year, so that threshold needs checking each season, but the fact that Ramata’s data-sheet range sits above it shows the variety’s advantage on the buying side.
The protein content is 13-14%. What the barley is grown for is decisive here: in feed barley a high protein content is wanted, while in malting barley the opposite is true and a low protein of around 9-10.5% is sought. Ramata is a feed variety, so the 13-14% band sits on the wanted side. For barley going to a livestock operation, that difference goes straight into its feeding value.
Straw is part of the account as well. In six-row and tall feed varieties the straw yield is higher than in short two-row varieties; Ramata’s thick, sound stem appears on the data sheet as a high straw yield. On a farm that sells the straw or uses it for its own animals, that item stands beside the grain income. We covered the difference between two-row and six-row barley in two-row or six-row barley.
Which variety for which field
Ramata’s drought tolerance is given as medium on the data sheet. That does not mean the variety fails under rainfed conditions — the 350-400 kg/da range on the data sheet is the rainfed range — but on fully dryland fields with no water at all Sinanbey is the sounder choice, since that variety was selected for exactly those conditions. On irrigated and lowland fields, in transitional and cold regions, Ramata’s place is clear. For growers who want to bring the harvest forward, who have a second crop in mind or who are looking for earliness, Manava comes into play.
In short, Ramata’s yield range is wide because the field decides where within it one stands: a field with water, sown on time, kept to the seed rate on the data sheet and given its nitrogen in splits comes close to the upper limit of the range. To see the data sheets of our three barley varieties side by side, the comparison table on the barley seed varieties page can be used. When the water situation of the field and the region are shared with us, our agronomist assesses which variety and which irrigation plan suit those conditions: +90 506 101 01 50.