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Sudan Journal of Agricultural Research

Resource utilization by grain sorghum under different management factors in a Vertisol soil



E. A. Elasha¹, F. R. Bidinger² and B. Bhaskar Reddy³


Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the International Crops Research Institute for the semi- Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) during rabi 1995 and 1996. The objective was to study the impact of management treatments studied together on sorghum total dry weight (TDW), and on its ability to use resources (percent light interception, %LI; water used; nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) uptakes. The experiment was carried out in a Vertisol site and laid out in a three level split plot design. The treatments were two sowing dates; early (SD1) and normal (SD2); three fertility levels; 10 ton of farmyard manure (FYM) every alternate year (F1), FYM + 20 kgN + 9 kgP (F2), FYM + 66 kgN + 9kgP (F3); non protected (NPR) and protected (PR) crop against the shoot fly; and three cultivars. There was no effect due to early or normal sowing on TDW, % LI, water used or on the crop ability to tap N and P. On the other hand, fertilization with F2 or F3 or protection against the shoot fly had a significant effect on the crop ability to use resources than FYM alone or when the crop was left unprotected. The study showed that maximum % LI by sorghum cultivars was at 60-67 DAE, a period coinciding also with maximum moisture extraction (42mm) from different soil layers (0-150 cm). About 60% of the crop water used (195-212 mm) was from 0-60 cm and the 40% balance was from the 75-150 cm soil depth. The three genotypes used the resources differently, IC94004 accumulated more DM. This might enhanced its ability to intercept more %LI, and to accumulate a significantly more N and P than M35-1 and Swathi.
 

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Sudan Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 6 (2006) PP. 11-19