Barley

One of the major grass family cereal grain used in the country is Barley that is majorly used as animal silage, for fermenting the beer and also used in distilled beverages and various health product. The use of Barley is also in many of the food preparations like soup, stew and making barley bread.

During the year 2007, Barley was ranked on fourth number in consideration of produced quantity that was 136 million tons while a total of 566000 square kilometer in terms of cultivated area.

The grain Barley is composed of eight major amino acid and the study revealed that consumption of barley as a whole grain regulates the level of blood sugar.

History

This grain was the first ever domesticated grain that was majorly grown in the areas of Western part of Asia and close to the area of Nile River in Northeast Africa. The wild Barley was seen majorly in the areas of North Africa and Crete in the western areas while towards the east part of Tibet.

Cultivation

Barley is one of the crops that are widely used in all parts of the country. Use of Barley is majorly seen in temperate areas and is seen majorly being cultivated during summers while it is a winter crop for the tropical areas. The seed takes a day to three for germination. The ideal condition for the growth of Barley is in cool conditions.

Barley can be grown in very lesser period throughout the year and is one of the crops that are tolerant to droughts.

Usage of Barley

1. Algaecide: The straws of Barley are used for reduction of algae growth in the fish ponds or the water gardens by placing it in mesh bags in such a way that it does not either harm the plants in the pond and the animals that live in pond. Though the recent studies in US and UK university has shown that the usage of Barley straw has mixed results while as per recent studies have also shown that EPA has not approved Barley straws usage as pesticides.
2. Usage as Animal Fodder: The half of the total Barley grown in the United States is used for the purpose of livestock feed. This crop is majorly used as feed grain and is not appropriate as a maize crop production majorly in the climate of northern parts of the world like north and eastern part of the Europe. It is used as a major feeding grain in the countries like Canada, northern part of United States and Europe.

Usage in Beverages

1. Usage in Alcoholic Beverages: Almost 25 percent of portion is used for the purpose of malting which is considered as the best usage of Barley the grain. It is majorly used as a major constituent in the preparation of beer and whisky. For the preparation of German and English beer, two-row barley production is used while for the preparation of US beers six-row barley is used. Countries like Ireland and Scotland majorly use distilled green beer for preparing the whisky.

The wine prepared using Barley is very strong in lieu of traditional English prepared by the method of brewing. One of the older methods of preparing the alcoholic drink during 18th century involves mixing of Barley in boiling water and then adding white wine and few other constituents like borage, sugar and lemon. During the 19th century, Barley wine was prepared using the older Greek recipes.

2. Usage in Non-Alcoholic Beverages: There are few other non-alcoholic drinks prepared by mixing barley in hot water are barley tea and barley water. The usage of barley in the country of Italy is used as an alternate to coffee. This drink in Italy is prepared by roasting barley and then using it in espresso form. This form of coffee used in Italy became common during the Fascist period since the import of coffee during the war was very less and hence, this was an alternative form of drink for the poor families. Later, this form of drink became common for the children. During the current days, this drink is used by those who are recommended to reduce the usage of caffeine drinks.

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