**1. Introduction**

*Hordeum vulgare* (barley) was one of the first crops to be domesticated for human consumption and is still one of the most important cereal crops grown worldwide [1, 2]. Due to its high nutritional value and palatability, barley is the fourth-largest cereal in terms of grain production worldwide, with nearly 60% used as animal feed, around 30% used for malt production, 7% used for seed production, and only 3%

used for human food [3]. The South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries reported 421,800 tons of barley production in 2018. According to the report, the country's high maize production hampers the feed market for barley, so barley is grown specifically for malting. Furthermore, because barley production is limited to winter rainfall areas, there is a need to optimize cultivation techniques so that it can be produced year-round [4].

Globally, the demand for feeds and forage has increased due to the increase in the livestock population [5]. Hydroponically sprouted cultivars are used as a dietary supplement for animals in South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, and other parts of the world due to their ease of germination and growth [6, 7]. Besides, various authors have reported different harvesting and growth cycles for a barley fodder mat, ranging from a 6-day harvest cycle to a 10-day harvest cycle, implying that hydroponically produced fodder has a short growth period [8, 9]. The quality and quantity of fodder produced by hydroponics are also of interest. Farmers in India, for example, discovered that feeding their dairy cattle hydroponically grown barley increased milk yield from 0.5 to 2.5 l/day. They discovered an improvement in animal health as well as the fat content of their cow's milk in addition to the increased yield [10].

Climate change is affecting agriculture and natural water resources all over the world, which has an impact on the sustainability of food and water resources [11]. Because water and agriculture are inextricably linked and vital to most societies' economies and security, hydroponic cultivation ensures year-round production while consuming less water [9, 12], as opposed to run-to-waste systems in field production [13]. It was reported earlier that hydroponic production used only about 2% of the water required for field production of the same crop [14] thus, the introduction of hydroponic systems for fodder production can help overcome the challenges encountered in conventional production.

Previous research has shown that soaking barley seed before sowing increases the rate of germination, softens the seed coat, and breaks seed dormancy, though the number of hours recommended for soaking barley seed ranged from 3 to 28 h [15–18]. Similarly, the importance of using clean seeds for cultivation and seed sterilization during the soaking procedure cannot be overstated [9, 19]. Soaking seeds in a solution of 20% (bleach) for 30 min was recommended to prevent the formation of any fungal contamination [20, 21]. However, [22] using Mercuric chloride to prevent the proliferation of fungal contaminants while [23] tested both the effects of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and Mercuric chloride (HgCl2) on a range of pathogens and proposed that surface sterilization of the seed is important to remove unwanted fungal growth.

Although earlier studies showed a wide range of water types, including both mist and flood irrigation [14, 24, 25], there is a scarcity of data on the amount and frequency of water/irrigation used in a hydroponic chamber to germinate barley seed. This was necessary to address the challenges of nutrient imbalance in hydroponic systems, soil quality and productivity, and soil-based ecosystem services [26–28] affecting barley biomass production. In this study, an 8-day harvest cycle was used in conjunction with post-germination irrigation frequency to determine the most effective method to break seed dormancy, cause germination, and grow into a seedling mat and see the impacts of these treatments on the nitrogen value, protein content, fresh weight, and dry weight of the seedling forage mat post-harvest compared to the original untreated seeds. Because soil-based farming is facing serious challenges

*Seed Soaking Times and Irrigation Frequencies Affected the Nutrient Quality and Growth… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104503*

in South Africa and other developing countries, fodder crop producers can use the study's findings to obtain critical information that will aid in the optimization of inputs and the efficient utilization of resources in hydroponic fodder production.
