Abstract
Abstract Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is a potential plant for food, livestock feed, biofuel, sugar, alcohol, and other bioindustry products. Sorghum could be adaptable to grow and expand in marginal areas of the world. Varieties of sorghum have their specific morpho-agronomic characters. It would be significant to compare the performance of multiple sorghum varieties to identify a suitable one for the intended use. The increase in biomass plant production could be caused by cultivation factors, such as an increased planting density. This study aims to determine the response of four different sorghum varieties to the treatment of the plant density on the biomass, grain production, and sugar content of stem juice. This research was conducted using two factors: sorghum variety (“Super 1,” “Keler,” “Lepeng,” and “Rio”) and the plant density (two, four, and six plants per hole or 106,667; 213,333; and 320,000 plants ha−1, respectively). The results of the study showed that all four sorghum varieties tested could be used as biomass resources. The highest plant dry biomass was gained from six plants per hole with 44.0 t ha–1, whereas the lowest one was two plants per hole with 30.4 t ha–1. “Super 1” was a superior variety due to the significant highest sugar content of the stem juice (13.9°Brix) and grain production. “Lepeng” variety was the lowest in both sugar content (8°Brix) and grain production, whereas “Keler” and “Rio” varieties contained sugar in between 8.5 and 10.8°Brix of the stem juice.
Highlights
Food and energy crises have become the main global challenges with the increase in population
Pellet made from sorghum biomass has been estimated to have a potential for substituting fossil fuel in electricity generation [6]
Grain weight was significantly higher in two-seed plots (41.2 g) than that in the four- or six-seed plots (26.1 and 22.3 g, respectively). These results suggest that increasing the number of seeds per hole could lead to an increase in biomass production per area, but it could cause a decrease in grain production (Table 6)
Summary
Food and energy crises have become the main global challenges with the increase in population. Sorghum is a multipurpose crop, which produces food, fodder, sugars, fibers, and other bioindustrial products [2,3,4]. The crop has been getting attention as a source of bioenergy. Sweet sorghum plants accumulate sugars at high concentrations in their stems, which can be readily converted to liquid fuels by fermentation [5]. The crop is promising as the source of biomass that can be converted into liquid fuels via the second-generation bioethanol production or biopellet for direct combustion. Pellet made from sorghum biomass has been estimated to have a potential for substituting fossil fuel in electricity generation [6]. Current technology of field-based phenotyping for sorghum biomass has been developed [7]
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