The Effect of Different Tillage Methods on Spring Barley Crop Productivity and Grain Quality Indicators

The production of winter wheat, spring barley, spring oilseed rape and field beans requires detailed experimental data studies to analyze the quality and productivity of spring barley grain under different cultivation and tillage conditions. Tillage has a long-term impact on agroecosystems. As the world’s population grows, more food is required to maintain a stable food supply chain. For many years, intensive farming systems have been used to meet this need. Today, intensive climate change events and other global environmental challenges are driving to a shift towards sustainable use of natural resources and simplified cultivation methods that produce high-quality and productive food. The impact of reduced tillage on these indicators in spring barley production is still insufficiently investigated and requires further analysis at a global level. This study was carried out at Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (Lithuania) in 2022–2024. The soil of the experimental site is classified as Epieutric Endocalcaric Planosol (Endoclayic, Episiltic, Aric, Drainic, Endoraptic, Uterquic), according to the World Reference Base [1]. Treatments were arranged using a split-plot design. Based on a long-term tillage experiment, five tillage systems were tested: deep and shallow plowing, deep cultivation, chiseling, shallow cultivation-disking, and no-tillage. In 2022–2024, the results of the current study show that the hectoliter weight and moisture content of spring barley grains increased, but protein content and germination decreased in shallowly plowed fields. In deeply plowed fields, the protein content of spring barley grains decreased, and in shallowly plowed fields, the moisture content decreased. In all fields, the simplified tillage systems applied reduced spring barley germination.