Optimization of elements of forage sorghum cultivation in the south-west of the Central region of Russia

Relevance. In the agro-climatic conditions of the southwestern part of the Central region of Russia, studies have been conducted aimed at improving the zonal agrotechnology of forage sorghum in order to optimize individual elements of cultivation that are relevant and timely. The main task was to assess the effectiveness of mineral fertilizers and seeding rates on yield, crop structure, nutritional value of the aboveground mass of sorghum varieties and hybrids, their energy assessment in the conditions of gray forest soils of the Bryansk region.

Material and methods. The experimental work was carried out in 2015–2020 at the experimental field of Bryansk GAU. The objects of research were 3 sorghum-sudan grass hybrids: Slavyanskoe pole 15 F₁, Sabantuy F₁, Solaris and 5 varieties of sweet sorghum: Zernogradskij yantar, Debut, Listvenit, Sazhen, Sever. Agricultural technology of experiments —adopted in the region for silage and fodder crops. The laying of experiments, field records and observations were carried out according to the Broad Unified Classifier of the CMEA, the International Classifier of the CMEA of cultivated species of the genus Sorghum Moench and the Methodology of the state variety testing of agricultural crops.

Results. The significant influence of azophoska , borophosphate and ammonium nitrate on the growth, development, yield and quality of the feed massof sorghum-sudan grass hybrids has been established. The highest yield of 14.8–15.8 t dry matter or 65–71 t ofgreen mass per 1 ha formed sorghum-sudan grass hybrids Sabantuy F1 and Solaris in the variant with N₉₀ feeding on the main background 1 — azophoska N₆₀P₆₀K₆₀. High-yielding agrocenoses of sweet sorghum Listvenit were marked—, 65–70.9 t/ha of green mass with a seeding rate of 500 thousand pieces of germinating seeds per 1 ha. The highest yield of gross energy with the harvest was provided by the Listvenit variety (54.8 GJ/ha), in the Sazhen and Sever varieties in the range of 50.1–50.7 GJ/ha. A high energy coefficient of 4.3–4.5 and an energy efficiency coefficient of 2.1 and 2.4respectively were shown by crops of Listvenitand Sever varieties. 

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