Barley / Cevada

Barley cultivated on a large scale in Madeira and Porto Santo is Hordeum vulgare, subspecies hexastichum; the subspecies distichum, known as barley wheat, only appears in some locations on the former of these islands. Barley is mainly cultivated in the lower region of Madeira, but in some places it extends to the vicinity of the mountains, where it is usually harvested in the month of August and sown in February. In the lower region, it is sown in December and January and harvested in June and July. Barley soup is one of the foods of the rural populations of Madeira, and the flour is used to make biscuits and cookies, mainly on the island of Porto Santo. The straw is used to cover huts and as feed for stabled cattle. The archipelago produces around 6,000 hectoliters of barley annually.