Phytoremediation
Barley is a salt-tolerant species that can be used for the reclamation of saline soils. The main mechanisms of salinity tolerance are salt exclusion and salt dilution (Anderson et al., 1985 cited by UC SAREP, 2006). Barley is thought to have potential for Zn, Cu and Cd extraction (Ebbs et al., 1998). Barley has Al tolerance provided the pH is not too low (Singh et al., 2007).
Weed suppression
Barley can compete with weeds for soil moisture and may be used for this purpose in high-density sown swards (UC SAREP, 2006).
Cover crop and green manure
Barley can be ploughed in as green manure in spring or grown as a cover crop. In the latter case, only barley forage will be harvested (UC SAREP, 2006).