Performance of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) as an energy crop for biogas production
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Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) belonging to the Tribe Andropogonae of the family Poaceae is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions and variously used for the production of animal feed as well as for energy and syrup. Presently sorghum is a new crop in Germany and still not well adapted to the local climate. So there is a dire need to produce adapted cultivars and to optimize husbandry practices of sorghum for its cultivation in Germany. One of the most important demands on sorghum cultivation is the establishment of plant stand. For that reason field experiments were conducted to clarify the effect of different sowing times, row spacing and plant densities on dry matter production, chemical composition, and biogas production of sorghum.Two field experiments were carried out at three experimental stations in Giessen, Gross-Gerau and Rauischholzhausen in 2008 and 2009. First experiment was conducted to study the impact of different plant densities (16, 24 and 32 plants m-2), sowing times (mid of May, end of May and first week of June) and cultivars (Goliath and Bovital). On the other hand the second experiment was conducted to clarify the effect of different row spacing (75 cm, 37.5 cm and 75 cm double row apart with strip rows of 10-15 cm) and cultivars (Goliath, Bovital, Aron, Rona 1 and Akklimat) on biomass yield, chemical composition and methane productivity of Sorghum bicolor. The field trials were designed in RCBD under split plot arrangement with four replications and statistically analyzed by using PIAF software.It was observed that higher plant density and wider row spacing decreased the number of tillers per plant. On the other hand, higher plant density and narrow row spacing led to higher leaf area index (LAI). The biomass yield of sorghum varied from minimal 5.0 to maximal 17.0 t DM/ha in present trials. In most cases dry matter yield was not significantly affected by plant density as well as by row spacing evaluated in present trials. However in one experiment, narrow row spacing (37.5 cm and 75 cm double row apart with strip rows of 10-15 cm) led to significantly higher dry matter yield compared with wider row spacing of 75 cm. In twelve from total eighteen sowing times, different plant densities led to comparable averages of dry matter yield. However in six sowing times, higher plant densities (24 and 32 plants m-2) exhibited significantly greater dry matter yield than lower plant density (16 plants m-2). Under the specific experimental conditions, it was found that sorghum can be cultivated by delayed sowing until mid of June without compromising the dry matter yield. Among five tested cultivars, Goliath was characterized by consistently higher dry matter yield than other tested cultivars in all experiments conducted at different experimental stations. Despite of higher number of tillers per plant, cv. Akklimat showed lowest LAI while comparable values were observed for cv. Goliath, Bovital, Aron and Rona 1. Row spacing and plant density had no clear impact on most quality parameters (protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber and lignin concentration) of sorghum plants. However significant interactions of cultivar x plant density in 1st and 2nd sowing time (Giessen 2008) and 1st sowing (Gross-Gerau 2009) were observed. Cv. Goliath showed a reduction in protein concentration at lower plant density while similar averages were attained for cv. Bovital. The neutral detergent fiber (NDF) concentrations varied from 50 to 56% of DM. In some treatments, significant interactions of cultivar x plant density were found regarding NDF and ADF concentration. Cultivars clearly influenced the chemical composition of sorghum. Protein concentrations of tested cultivars ranged from 6 to 9%. Higher protein concentrations were achieved by Sorghum sudanense like cv. Akklimat and cv. Bovital than Sorghum bicolor species tested in present experiments. Contrary to that Sorghum bicolor (cv. Aron and cv. Rona 1) accumulated markedly higher sugar concentration compared with Sorghum sudanense species such as cv. Bovital and cv. Akklimat. Lowest acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber and ash concentrations were exhibited by cv. Rona 1 followed by cv. Aron among cultivars. In present study, specific methane yield of sorghum ranged from 280 to 387 nL kg-1 of volatile solid. Cv. Rona 1 reached higher specific methane yield (Norm litter CH4 per kg of volatile solids) than other tested cultivars. Although cv. Rona 1 produced higher specific methane yield per kg volatile solid but it was overcompensated by cv. Goliath due to higher dry matter yield ha-1. Thus the cv. Goliath may have advantage over the cultivars of this study, due to its higher dry matter potential for the maximization of methane yield ha-1.Verknüpfung zu Publikationen oder weiteren Datensätzen
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Giessen : VVB Laufersweiler