Determination of yield and yield components of some sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor var. saccharatum (L.) Mohlenbr.) genotypes grown as second crop

This research was carried out in the Kızıltepe district of Mardin province in the second crop growing season of 2021 to determine the yield and some yield components of sweet sorghum Sorghum bicolor var. saccharatum (L.) Mohlenbr. genotypes. In the research, 10 sweet sorghum S. bicolor var. saccharatum (L.) Mohlenbr. genotypes, namely Gülşeker, Sorge, Erdurmuş, Ulusoy, Uzun, M81-E, Tracy, Cowley, Smith and USDA Taiwan, were used as plant material. In the research, the field trial was established according to the randomized complete blocks trial design with 3 replications. In the study, the duration of panicle formation, the number of flowering days, plant height, stem thickness, stem ratio, leaf ratio, panicle ratio, green herbage yield, stem yield, dry matter (DM) yield, duration of physiological maturity, lodging state, grain yield, thousand-grain weight, crude protein (CP) ratio, CP yield, acid detergent fiber (ADF) ratio, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) ratio, and relative feed value (RFV) parameters were investigated. As a result of the statistical analyzes made in the study, statistically significant (p<0.01) differences were found between sweet sorghum genotypes in terms of all parameters examined. According to the research results, the duration of panicle formation ranged from 56.0 to 69.0 days, days to flowering ranged from 64.0 to 79.0 days, plant height ranged from 133.6 to 363.0 cm, stem thickness ranged from 16.38 to 28.43 mm, stem ratio ranged from 72.2% to 83.2%, leaf ratio ranged from 10.5% to 16.0%, panicle ratio ranged from 6.2% to 11.7%, green herbage yield ranged from 2247 to 12029 kg/da, stem yield ranged from 1809 to 10009 kg/da, DM yield ranged from 572.4 to 3346.7 kg/da, physiological maturity ranged from 96.0 to 123.0 days, lodging score ranged from 1.00 to 5.00, grain yield ranged from 88.89 to 195.27 kg/da, thousand-grain weight ranged from 16.50 to 27.25 g, CP content ranged from 11.27% to 13.81%, CP yield ranged from 64.7 to 462.1 kg/da, ADF content ranged from 27.69% to 35.65%, NDF content ranged from 51.45% to 65.61%, and RFV ranged from 86.7 to 121.7. It is recommended to encourage the cultivation of drought-tolerant sweet sorghum in the region, especially during the off-season or when animal feed is scarce, due to the high nutritive potential of the genotypes. In this respect; Gülşeker and USDA Taiwan genotypes, which stand out in terms of many agricultural features for forage production, and Uzun variety for grain production can be suggested as genotypes that can be cultivated in local conditions.