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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2017, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (7): 177-189.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2016376

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Nutrient contents and yields of photoperiod-sensitive sorghum-Sudangrass hybrids grown in summer after a winter wheat crop

HE Chun-Gui, HE Zhen-Fu*, WANG Fei   

  1. Animal Husbandry-Pasture and Green Agriculture Institute, Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730070, China
  • Received:2016-10-09 Online:2017-07-20 Published:2017-07-20

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the nutrient contents and yields of three photoperiod-sensitive sorghum-Sudangrass hybrids cropped after winter wheat in the Longdong dryland area, Gansu Province. The three sorghum-Sudangrass hybrids were Monster, BJM, and Big kahuna (with a brown midrib). The plants were grown with three dibbling modes: no tillage and no mulching (NN), tillage and no mulching (TN), and tillage with plastic mulch (TP), and were mown once (one-cut, C11) or twice (two-cuts, C21, C22). The nutrient contents and yields were determined for the three varieties grown with different sowing patterns and mowing frequencies. The contents of various nutrients, including crude protein (CP), soluble sugars (SS), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), total digestible nutrients (TDN), and relative feeding value (RFV) showed complex variations among the three sowing methods, the two mowing methods, and their combinations. There were no consistent trends in the contents of most nutrients. In practice, the most effective cultivation method should be selected based on the need for particular nutrients. The contents of the main nutrients (CP and TDN) showed the same trends as dry matter yields in the same treatments. Therefore, high dry matter yield was associated with higher contents of the main nutrients. The yields of CP and TDN were significantly higher for the plants mown once than for those mown twice. The yield of BJM was higher than those of the other two varieties. The yields were higher in the TP sowing mode than in the other two sowing modes. The highest yields of TDN (10.97 t/hm2) and CP (1.25 t/hm2) were from Monster in the TP system mown once. The CP yield from BJM mown once with the TP sowing mode was 1.11 t/hm2 (not significantly different from that of Big Kahuna, P>0.05). Therefore, under these experimental conditions, the best production pattern was the TP dibbling mode, mown once (1 week before the early frost), and BJM for use in silage. However, the best production pattern for green harvest was Monster and the TP dibbling mode with two mowings.