~ 2188 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2019; 8(6): 2188-2191 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2019; 8(6): 2188-2191 Received: 25-09-2019 Accepted: 27-10-2019 Jagdish Choudhary Assistant Professor and Project Incharge, AICRP on Wheat and Barley, Department of Agronomy, RCA, MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Mohammed Mohsin Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Agronomy, RCA, MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Somdutt M.Sc. Agronomy Research Scholar, Department of Agronomy, RCA, MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Corresponding Author: Jagdish Choudhary Assistant Professor and Project Incharge, AICRP on Wheat and Barley, Department of Agronomy, RCA, MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Effect of row spacing on growth, yield and economics of barley genotypes under sub humid agro-climatic zone of Rajasthan Jagdish Choudhary, Mohammed Mohsin and Somdutt Abstract A field experiment was conducted at Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur (Rajasthan) during rabi season of 2015-16 and 2016-17 to study the response of different varieties of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) under varying row spacing. The experiment results revealed that 20 cm row spacing enhancing the growth parameters viz. plant population, plant height and number of tillers over 22.5 and 25 cm row spacing. Amongst different barley varieties, RD 2786 recorded maximum plant population at 15 days after sowing and plant height at harvest, but maximum number of tillers was found in BD 959. However, different barley varieties failed to observe significant difference in numbers of days taken to flowering and maturity. Sowing of crop at wider row spacing (25 cm) resulted in highest test weight which was statistically at par with row spacing of 22.5 cm. whereas, non significant difference found in number of grains ear -1 under different row spacing. Highest number of grains ear -1 was found in variety BH 959 but different varieties failed to record perceptible variation in test weight. Sowing of barley at 20 cm row spacing results in significantly higher grain and biological yield over 22.5 and 25 cm row spacing. Amongst different barley varieties, BH 959 recorded highest grain and biological yield followed by RD 2786. Highest net return and B-C ratio was obtained when barley sown at spacing of 20 cm as compared to 22.5 and 25 cm row spacing. In case of different varieties, BH 959 obtained highest net return and B-C ratio followed by RD 2786. Keywords: Row spacing, varieties, net return and B-C ratio Introduction Barley is the world’s fourth most important cereal crop after wheat, rice and maize. It is grown throughout the temperate and tropical region of the world. It is usually used as food for human beings and feed for animals and poultry. It is also a valuable input for industries for extracting malt. In India, barley was cultivated on 0.67 m ha area during 2017-18 with 1.78 m t of production at an average productivity status of 26.41 q ha -1 . In Rajasthan, it is grown in 0.28 m ha of land with a production and productivity of 0.85 m t and 30.46 q ha -1 , respectively (IIWBR, 2017-18) [5] . Plant stand design is a key parameter for grain yield of barley and other row crops. Row spacing affects crop yield as it not only determines the optimum crop stand, but also facilitates inter-culture and convenient herbicide application for effective and efficient weed control. It also facilitates the inter-cropping of other crops with it. Moreover, plant spacing determines the area available to each plant which in turn determines nutrient and moisture availability to the plant. Row spacing determines resource availability and utilization by individual plants in a given species. Planting decisions require that optimum row widths for the seed crop be determined. In wider row spacing, solar radiation falling within the rows gets wasted particularly during the early stages of crop growth, whereas in closer row spacing upper part of the crop canopy may be well above the light saturation capacity but the lower leaves remain starved of light and contribute negatively towards yield. In addition, proper row spacing is important for maximizing light interception, penetration, light distribution in crop canopy and average light utilization efficiency of the leaves in the canopy and thus, affects yield of a crop (Hussain et al., 2003) [4] . Row spacing requirements of rows crop like wheat and barley depend on architecture and growth pattern of the varieties. For higher yield, higher proportion of incident radiation at the soil surface must be intercepted by crop canopy (Eberbach et al., 2005) [2] . In case of wider row spacing, solar radiation that falls between crop rows remains unutilized; plants become crowded and suffer from mutual shading if the row distance is too narrow. Moreover, yield may be reduced in narrow spacing due to increased competition of plants for nutrient and moisture (Das and Yaduraju, 2011) [1] .