Objective  To develop a barley variety with the grains suitable either for food as it or for sprout production to meet the marketing demand.

  Method  In the winter of 2003, the colchicine mutagenesis breeding method was employed to treat Minyou No. 3 during tiller development period. In the following spring, desirable mutants were crossed as female plant with the male Pudamai No. 5. The new hybrid barley was then cultivated after years of pedigree breeding to arrive at the finalized cultivar, Fudamai No. 2.

  Result  In 2012-2014 district production trials in Fujian, Fudamai No. 2 delivered an average annual yield of 4 550.58 kg·hm^-2 in the first year which was 5.6% higher than that of the reference, Fudamai No. 1, and 4 612.95 kg·hm^-2 for the second year with a 5.2% increase over the reference (both at significant differences). Like the reference, the new variety exhibited above moderate resistances to the powdery mildew, scab, and rust. In the 2015 production trial, an average yield of 4 662.95 kg·hm^-2 was obtained which represented a 6.29% increase over that of the reference. During the same year, the yield of fresh barley sprouts from Fudamai No. 2 in a trial was 24 084.75 kg·hm^-2 representing an 8.42% increase over that of control. As compared with the reference, the sprouts contained 22.65 g·hg^-1 of amino acids (an increase of 9%) and same levels on vitamin C and protein.

  Conclusion  Fudamai No. 2 was strong in tiller generation, robust in renewable capability, productive on panicles, long on spike length, high in grain yield, and strong resistance to diseases with a promising commercial value. The sprouts from the seeds had the desirable quality of high yield and nutritional quality for marketing and/or processing as a health food product, such as fresh barley sprouts, sprout powder or juice. This new variety was deemed suitable for extended cultivation in Fujian and regions of similar ecological conditions.