Sowing characteristics of sugar sorghum grain depending on storage duration and treatment with preparations

Abstract

Purpose. Investigation of sowing characteristics (laboratory germination, germination energy) of sugar sorghum grain depending on storage duration, variety and treatment with preparations to optimize the elements of seed production technology.Methods. Laboratory, physical, analytical, statistical.Results. During storage for the first year of sugar sorghum grain germination energy was 61–75 % depending on the variety. Treatment of sugar sorghum grains with biological preparation allowed to increase the germination energy to 73–75 % and storage time up to 5 years. The highest germination energy has grain of ‘Medovyi’ variety. Laboratory germination of sugar sorghum grain varied depending on the storage duration, treatment with the preparations and the variety. Thus, the highest laboratory germination was found after 1–2 years of storage, irrespective of the variety and treatment with preparations. With prolonged storage time, this indicator decreased significantly. Under the condition without grain treatment in ‘Medovyi’ variety, laboratory germination decreased to 27 % or by 67 % after 10 years compared to the first year of storage. In ‘Nectarnyi’ variety it decreased up to 25 % or by 69 %, in ‘Sylosne 42’ variety up to 22 % or by 73 %. Treatment of sorghum grain with the Phytocide-R biological formulation increased the laboratory germination up to 83–87 % or by 4–7 % compared to the variants without treatment. It should be noted that after grain treatment with this preparation, germination was high even after 5 years of storage, 70–75 % compared to 56–61 % in non-treatment variants. However, storage of sugar sorghum grain for 10 years also reduced its germination by 68 % in ‘Medovyi’, by 77 % in ‘Sylosne 42’ and by 79 % in ‘Nectarnyi’ varieties. The results of dispersion analysis confirmed that the sowing characteristics of sugar sorghum grain were mostly influenced by the storage duration and treatment with preparations, since the eta-partial coefficient was the highest, 0.83–0.99. The variety characteristics, 0.49–0.55, had the least effect on these indicators. The interaction of BC factors mostly influenced by 0.59–0.76, the other combinations were the smallest, 0.06–0.29.Conclusions. As a result of conducted researches, the influence of storage duration and grain processing on the laboratory germination and germination energy depending on the variety of sugar sorghum was revealed. It has been established that the sowing characteristics of sugar sorghum of the studied varieties are low even for a long-term storage. Laboratory germination after 1 year of storage is 80–81 %, germination energy is 61–67 % depending on the variety with no grain treatment. The use of Phytocide-R biological preparation raises these indicators up to 83–87 % and 73–75 % respectively. Laboratory germination of ≥ 50 % ensures the storage of sugar sorghum grain for 4 years. Germination energy was 47–54 % depending on the variety. Grain treatment with biological preparations allows to extend the storage time up to 6 years with germination energy of 50–54 %. It is optimal for the production of sugar sorghum seeds to use ‘Medovyi’ variety, which has the highest sowing characteristics and grain treatment with biological preparation. Laboratory germination is 65–87 %, germination energy is 54–75 % depending on the storage duration.