INFLUENCE OF SEEDING RATES ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF BARLEY
About half of all areas of barley are concentrated in the North Caucasus, where grain production has historically specialized in the direction of use for fodder purposes. However, for brewing, it is not so much the quantity that is important, but the quality of barley grain as a raw material for this industry. This work is devoted to comparing the parameters of sowing density of seeds with different levels of mineral nutrition and taking into account their influence on the brewing quality of barley grain, malt and beer wort in the foothill zone of the KBR. Varieties of spring barley Vikont, Priazovsky 9, Mamluk approved for use in the North Caucasus region were studied. As the seeding rate increased from 4,0 to 6,0 million units/ha, the grain weight per ear and productive tillering decreased, but the number of plants per square meter increased. Higher yields and better grain quality were achieved at a seeding rate of 5,0 million pcs/ha. The results of the analyzes show that the weight of 1000 grains of barley, as one of the indicators of grain quality, is characterized for the better at more sparse sowing rates. It is 38,9-42,2 grams, depending on the seeding rate. As a result of the research, it was found that the maximum yield and the best quality of barley grain for brewing is observed at a stem density of 500 seeds/m<sup>2</sup> against the background of PK. More suitable for malting is the spring barley variety Priazovsky 9. The resulting barley corresponds to the 1st class according to GOST 5060-86 «Bringing barley. Specifications».