ABSTRACT
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a monocot plant belongs to the family Poaceae or Graminae that is cultivated among temperate regions of the world. This family includes food and feed grain crops (rice, wheat and maize) that serve as staple foods across the globe. According to FAO, it is the fourth most cultivated crop among grains after maize, rice and wheat. Barley is used in processed and fermented forms for human consumption and used fresh and raw for animal feeds. This chapter contains three major sections. The first section includes fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes. These pathogens confer serious biotic threats to the sustainable production of barley. The economically most important diseases of barley included in this chapter are (1) fungal pathogens, including black points, head blight, leaf and spot blotches, wilts, rusts, smuts, root rots, take-all disease, and powdery mildew; (2) bacterial pathogens afflicting bacterial blights and bacterial streaks; (3) viral pathogens causing barley mosaic and barley yellow dwarf diseases; and (4) root-knot nematodes. The second section of the chapter discusses abiotic stress caused by climate change such as drought, salinity, and heat stress and recent developments in their management. The third section includes herbal parasites of barley, including noxious weeds. The weed section highlights an important outlook on weed management in barley.
