THE ESTIMATION OF SORGHUM GRAIN AND BIOMASS QUALITY TO USE IT IN FEED PRODUCTION

Abstract

Sorghum is an important feed, grain forage and food crop for micro zones of Russia with insufficient moisture. Currently, there is an increasing demand for sorghum grains and green mass, which, due to their high yields and unique drought tolerance, contribute to the active development of the livestock industry in these regions. In the FSBSI RosRISC “Rossorgo” 53 varieties and hybrids of sorghum crops of various use with high productivity and quality of grain, biomass, adapted to the arid regions of the Russian Federation, were developed and included in the State List of Breeding Achievements. The paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of the productivity, fodder, energy value of grain and biomass of 21 grain sorghum varieties, 8 Sudan grass varieties grown on the experimental field of the Institute in 2014–2016. There were identified grain sorghum varieties ‘Volzhskoye 4ʼ, ‘Volzhskoye 44’, ‘Pishchevoye 35ʼ, ‘Topaz’, ‘Sarmat’, ‘Fakel’, ‘Geleoforʼ, ‘Granatʼ, characterized by the highest accumulation of gross energy (150.58–196.63 GJ/ha) of the biomass crop to produce mono feed and grain silage. The varieties ‘Fakelʼ, ‘Granatʼ, ‘Volzhskoe 44’ and ‘Avansʼ are intended for use as grain fodder with 5.27–5.84 t/ha grain productivity, 12.10–12.56% of protein, 3.72–4, 89% of oil and 90.26–99.48 GJ/ha of output of gross energy. The largest yields of green and dry biomass have been produced by the Sudan grass varieties “Allegoriya” (29.33 and 8.21 t/ha) and ‘Ambitsiyaʼ (35.33 and 6.26 t/ha), as well as the energy content of the yield (150.49 and 148, 83 GJ/ha respectively). The productivity and biochemical composition of grain, biomass of sorghum and Sudan grass indicate the high bioenergetic value of the products to use them in feed production.