Botha, Philip R.

Gerber, H. S.

Meeske, Robin

Swanepoel, A.

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress The Production and Nutritional Composition of Forage Sorghum Cultivars as Silage Crops A. Swanepoel Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa Philip R. Botha Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa H. S. Gerber Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa Robin Meeske Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/15-1/22 The XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　 瞯 669　 瞯Grasslands/Rangelands Production Systems ——— Forage Quality ,Conservation and UtilizationThe production and nutritional composition of forage sorghum cultivars as silage cropsA . Swanepoel , P .R . Botha , H .S . Gerber and R . Meeske 倡Department o f Agriculture Western Cape , Institute f or Plant Production , 倡 Institute f or Animal Production . OuteniquaResearch Farm , George , Republic o f South A f rica . e‐mail : annelenes ＠ elsenburg .comKey words : forage sorghum ,production ,nutrional composition ,silage cropIntroduction Forage sorghum ( Sorghum x Sudan grass hybrid) cultivars are palatable , high producing annual summer growinggrasses suited for silage production on the duplex soils of the Southern Cape of South Africa . New cultivars are releasedregularly and the production potential and nutritive value of these cultivars needs to be determined . The aim of the study was toquantify the dry matter production and quality of forage sorghum cultivars for silage production .Materials and methods The trial was carried out annually during the summer over two years (２００４ /２００５ and ２００５ /２００６ ) as asmall plot trial under irrigation on a Estcourt soil type . Fertiliser was applied to raise phosphorus level to ３５ mg kg‐１ ,potassium level to ８０ mg kg‐１ and pH ( KCL) to ５ .５ . Planting dates were ２５th and ２４th of November ２００４ and ２００５ respectively .Each plot received ５０ kg N ha‐１ and ２０ kg K ha‐１ with planting . Four weeks after emergence ８５ kg N ha‐１ and ４５ kg K ha‐１ wereapplied as top dressing and this was repeated four weeks later . When the plants reached a dry matter content of between ２５ and３０ ％ ,each cultivar was cut once at a height of １５０ mm , weighed and chopped with a silage chopper to obtain a representativesample . Dry matter ( DM ) production , crude protein ( CP ) , in vitro organic material digestibility ( IVOMD) , metabolisableenergy ( ME) and NDFof each cultivar were determined .Results The forage sorghum cultivars Sugargraze , SAC ７１０ and Hunnigreen produced more than １８ tons of DM ha‐１ and arerecommended for silage production ( Table １ ) . There are a number of cultivars that have the ability to produce between １４ and１７ tons of DM ha‐１ and can also be considered for silage production . The CP content varied between ７ ％ and ９ ％ and was low .The ME of ６ .９ , ５ .９ and ６ .４ MJ kg‐１ DM for Hunnigreen , Sugargraze and SAC ７１０ respectively were lower than some of thelower producing cultivars nl . Hygro Sil BMR (８ .１ MJ kg‐１ DM) and Hygro Sil (７ .８ MJ kg‐１ DM) . The CP content ( ％ ) , ME( MJ kg‐１ DM) and DM production ( kg ha‐１ ) of the cultivars influenced the total CP ( kg ha‐１ ) and ME ( MJ ha‐１ ) . Foragesorghum cultivars differ in production potential .Table 1 The DM production , DM ( ％ ) , CP ( ％ ) , total CP , NDF ( ％ ) , ME and total ME ha‐1 o f f orage sorghum cultivarsf or silage p roduction under irrigation , f or one season (2005/2006) , at Outeniqua Research Farm .Cultivars(２００５ /２００６ )DM( ton ha‐１ ) DM ％CP( ％ )Total CP( kg ha‐１ )NDF( ％ )ME( MJ kg‐１ DM)Total ME( MJ ha‐１ )SAC ７１０SugargrazeHunnigreenBulkmasterSuperdan ４０１Super KingRevolution BMRAGR ３４０４EverlushClassic GrazerNS １Kow Kandy BMRHygro ２ (Wei ７ )AGR ６２０１HaymakerSilage KingRamboHigro Sil BMRHigro SilAdvanta BMRHygro Graze BMR１９ .０a１８ .６ab１８ .４ab１６ .６bc１６ .１c１５ .４c１５ .７cd１４ .７cd１４ .７cd１４ .５cde１３ .０def１２ .７def１２ .４ef１２ .０７f１１ .８３f１１ .２０fg１１ .０７fg１０ .８３fg９ .３３gh８ .３３h７ .９０h２８ .６２９ .４２８ .７３０ .６２９ .７２８ .１na２８ .５２８ .３２８ .１２７ .８２９ .５２９ .８２８ .０２８ .６２８ .９２８ .３２８ .９２７ .５２９ .３２８ .８７ .７５ .３６ .９７ .４７ .０９ .１５ .７５ .３６ .０６ .２６ .０７ .９８ .８５ .６７ .９６ .７７ .９７ .９８ .８５ .３７ .１１４６３９８７１２７０１２２８１１２７１４０１８９５７７９８８２８９９７８０１００３１０９１６７６９３５７５０８６９８５３８１８６８９５６１６４６８６２６３６２５７７１６９７３７０７０６１５９５６６６６３６８５４５１６４５９６ .４５ .９６ .９６ .１６ .１６ .１５ .２６ .０５ .１６ .０５ .５６ .０６ .８７ .９６ .０６ .１５ .３８ .１７ .８６ .４７ .３１２１６００１０９７４０１２６９６０１０１２６０９８２１０９３９４０７６４４０８８２００７４９７０８７０００７１５００７６２００８４３２０９５３５３７０８００６８３２０５８８３０８７４８０７２５４０５３１２０５７６７０abcde Means with no common superscript differ significantly ( P ＜ ０ .０５ ) LSD (０ .０５ ) ＝ ２ .２１ na ＝ not available

The Production and Nutritional Composition of Forage Sorghum Cultivars as Silage Crops

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The Production and Nutritional Composition of Forage Sorghum Cultivars as Silage Crops

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