Present study was carried out during winter (rabi) seasons of 2019–20 and 2020–21 at Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh to decipher underlying gene effects for green forage quality characters in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. Eight diverse barley genotypes, viz. BH902, BH946, DWRB160, DWRB180, RD2552, RD2794, RD2899 and RD2907 were evaluated and crossed in half diallel design. A total of 28 F1s along with 8 parents were sown in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 replications. The green fodder was harvested after 55 days of sowing (DAS) and fodder quality analysis was conducted. The crude protein (CP) and nitrogen (N) contents showed mean values of 14.19 and 2.49% ranged from 12.62–15.26% and 2.22–2.68%, respectively. The characters, viz. organic matter (OM), CP, N, lignin (L) and hemicellulose (HCL) showed prepondrance of additive gene effects, whereas acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and cellulose (CL) showed the prevalnce of dominance gene effects. The genotype DWRB180 and two rowed malt barley variety DWRB160 were estimated with desirable additive gene effects for forage intake and digestibility traits. The cross combinations, DWRB160/RD2899, BH946/RD2552 and RD2794/DWRB180 can be further utilized for CP and N contents, whereas, the progenies, viz. BH946/DWRB180 and RD2552/RD2907 were promising for ADF and NDF. GT biplot corroborated positive correlations of NDF with ADF (0.43**), HCL (0.88**) and CL (0.41*). The improvement in forage intake and digestibility characters like ADF, NDF and CL is suggested through complex crossing followed by selection.