Growth Of Sorghum Plants Research Articles

Effect of seed coating protectants on iron deficiency chlorosis and sorghum plant growth

Abstract Chemical coatings on seed are commonly used in the grain sorghum seed industry to protect plants against herbicide damage and to inoculate young plants against certain disease. In this study, grain sorghum grown from seed safened with CGA‐92194 ([(l,3‐dioxolo‐2‐yl‐methoxy)‐imino] benzene‐acetonitrile} against injury from the herbicide, metolachlor, was studied for seedling vigor, seedling emergence, plant growth, and Fe‐deficiency chlorosis. Other seed was additionally treated with a systemic fungicide [(Metalaxyl:N‐(2,6‐dimethylphenyl)‐N‐(methoxyacetyl) alaminemethyl ester)] for control of systemic downy mildew and diseases caused by soilborne Phythium and Phytophthora spp. The experiment was conducted on Fe‐sufficient and Fe‐deficient soils. CGA‐92194 safened seed showed a slight reduction in stand on Goliad sandy loam soils (Fe‐sufficient), while the addition of the fungicide together with the herbicide safener reduced plant emergence by 39%. Sorghum emergence was generally not affected by see...

Effects of species of VA-mycorrhizal fungi on growth and mineral uptake of sorghum at different temperatures

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] plants were grown in growth chambers at 20, 25 and 30°C in a low P Typic Argiudoll (3.65 µg P g−1 soil, pH 8.3) inoculated with Glomus fasciculatum, Glomus intraradices, and Glomus macrocarpum to determine effects of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (VAMF) species on plant growth and mineral nutrient uptake. Sorghum root colonization by VAMF and plant responses to Glomus species were temperature dependent. G. macrocarpum colonized sorghum roots best and enhanced plant growth and mineral uptake considerably more than the other VAMF species, especially at 30°C. G. fasciculatum enhanced shoot growth at 20 and 25°C, and mineral uptake only at 20°C. G. intraradices depressed shoot growth and mineral uptake at 30°C. G. macrocarpum enhanced shoot P, K, and Zn at all temperatures, and Fe at 25 and 30°C above that which could be accounted for by increased biomass. Sorghum plant growth responses to colonization by VAMF species may need to be evaluated at different temperatures to optimize beneficial effects.

Use of optimal control in deriving water conserving irrigation schedules based on state events

Continued irrigated production in the Oklahoma Panhandle is threatened by the declining groundwater supply and costs of pumping groundwater. A computerized grain sorghum plant-growth model using daily weather observations and optimal control theory is used to derive irrigation schedules based on soil moisture deficiency at different stages of grain sorghum plant growth. When the optimal control irrigation schedules are compared to a fixed day interval-scheduled irrigation practice, the optimal control irrigation schedules reduce water and energy use while maintaining, and even increasing, net returns to the producer.

A Stochastic Dominance Comparison of Water‐Conserving Irrigation Strategies

AbstractStochastic dominance and stochastic dominance with respect to a function are used to compare water‐conserving irrigation strategies in an area of declining ground water supplies. A computerized grain sorghum plant growth model using daily weather observations provides the basis for stochastic dominance comparisons. Six irrigation strategies dominate contemporary intensive irrigation practices by first‐degree stochastic dominance and two additional strategies exhibit second‐degree stochastic dominance over contemporary practices. Dominant strategies involve irrigating based on a 45 percent soil water criterion and eliminating early season irrigations. Some dominant strategies reduce water use by as much as 40 percent while increasing expected net returns.

Experiments on the effects of phosphate applied to a Buganda soil: I. Pot experiments on the response curve

SUMMARYIn a pot experiment providing for rapid growth of sorghum plants in the red clay loam soils of the Cotton Research Station, Namulonge, in the Buganda Province of Uganda, large yield increases were obtained from added phosphate. In an uncultivated soil which had carried undisturbed natural vegetation (Pennisetum purpureurn)for at least 10 years the response curve had negative curvature throughout. In an arable soil, yields without added phosphate were very poor and the response curve was sigmoid in form. With the arable soil, liming did not modify the form of the response curve for added phosphate but at the heaviest dressing lime decreased yield.