Barley: Multi-purpose crop used as food, feed and malt

摘要

Barley is the fourth important cereal after wheat, rice and maize, occupying about 7.7 thousand hectares with a production of 29.9 thousand tonnes in Punjab during 2017-18. Barley is used for multiple purposes, such as food, feed and malt. About 75 per cent of the globally produced barley is used for feed, 20 per cent for malt and only 5 per cent is used for food purpose. Its utilization as food crop is restricted to tribal people of hills and plains in India. Since ancient time, barley products like'sattU (in summers because of its cooling effects and source of energy) and 'missi roti (for its better nutritional quality) have been used in India. But with time, human interest in barley declined due to increasing use of wheat and rice as staple food.