SOLAR RADIATION USE EFFICIENCY AND GROSS PROTEIN OF SORGHUM FORAGE ARE MODIFIED BY THE CUTTING MANAGEMENT
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine the growth, the solar radiation use efficiency, and the gross protein of sorghum forage under different cutting management. A unifactorial design in random blocks (cutting management) was used, varying from no-cut treatment to four cuts. The first cut occurred 44 days after sowing, the second one after 23 days of regrowth, the third one after 25 days of regrowth, and the last one after 40 days of regrowth. The efficiency of the sorghum forage’s solar radiation use reduces as the number of cuts increases. The sorghum forage’s gross protein increases with cutting management. Therefore, for a sorghum forage crop, it is recommended to restrain the cutting management up to three times during the crop cycle, since it has the biomass potential production, and the cuts should be made at every 25 days, depending on the increase of dry mass. After that, the cutting management should not be done, mainly due to the low radiation use efficiency, reduced dry mass accumulation, and low material quality.
Keywords: forage; grazing; tillering.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
