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Performance of Blends of Short, Medium, and Tall Sorghum for Forage¹

This study was conducted to evaluate a wider range of plant types and agronomic and quality traits than had been previously reported for blends of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. Three groups of sorghum cultivars and hybrids, each including a 1-dwarf (tall), a 2-dwarf (medium), and a 3-dwarf (short) sorghum, were used in a 2-year study. Within each group the following seven blends were compared: tall (T), medium (M), and short (S); T and M; T and S; M and S; T alone; M alone; and S alone. Principal emphasis was given to total dry matter (DM) production (sum of leaves, stems, and heads). It was concluded that blends consisting of entries differing in stature had no significant DM yield advantage over pure stands of T types. Yields of leaf and stem digestible dry matter and crude protein were closely correlated with leaf and stem DM yields. Yields of DM per stalk for S plants were usually highest when these plants were grown in pure stand, but DM yields/stalk for M and T entries were generally highest when these entries were grown in blends.

Key Words: Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench • Forage yield • Crude protein • Digestibility • Intercropping

² Supervisory research geneticist, USDA-ARS and professor of Agronomy; and George Holmes professor of Agronomy; Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, respectively.

Received for publication January 26, 1981.