Grain Sorghum Agronomy

Grain Sorghum Agronomy

Pacific Seeds has been investing in grain sorghum extension and agronomy for over a decade with the aim of providing expertise and support for growers and agronomists to maximise the production of their grain sorghum crops.

 

Grain Sorghum Agronomy

Your Technical Guides

Seed Bed Preparation

The best crops start with the best establishment. When making the decision to plant it is vital the paddock and seed bed are in a desirable state. Ideally, it should be free of weeds, have manageable levels of stubble, a fine enough tilth and adequate level of soil moisture.

If the crop suffers from problems at planting, it will often not fully recover and so be yield limited from the start. By getting planting right you give your crop the best chance to maximise yield potential.

Optimal Seed Spacing

There is a common thought with grain sorghum that the plant will compensate for any gaps in the plant stand using its ability to tiller. Although the ability to tiller is often a very desirable trait, increasing yield potential by taking advantage of favourable conditions, is it possible for tillering alone to make up for any missing or unthrifty plants?

Our research into grain sorghum seed placement assessed various seed placements and has shown that having unevenly placed seed can impact final yield and the return per hectare.

The role of nutrients

For each tonne of yield produced, the sorghum plant requires defined quantities of nutrients. Nutrient deficiencies can lead to poor vigour, discolouration, a reduction in growth, delayed or uneven flowering and a reduction in yield as well as grain quality.  Appropriate rates of fertiliser need to be applied in consideration of factors such as:

  • soil type
  • previous crops and
  • fertiliser history.

The nutrients that are most frequently limited in sorghum production are nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, potassium and zinc. Sorghum takes up 75% of its nitrogen requirement in the vegetative period prior to floral initiation (about 6 leaves open).

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