Plant population and row spacing on biomass sorghum yield performance/Espacamento entrelinhas e populacao de plantas no desempenho produtivo do sorgo biomassa

• Published in: Ciência rural 2016-03, p.434
• Main Authors: May, Andre, de Souza, Vander Fillipe, de Amaral Gravina, Geraldo, Fernandes, Pedro Goncalves
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• ISSN: 0103-8478
• DOI: 10.1590/0103-8478cr20141133

Biomass sorghum is one of the most promising crops for the production of electricity through the burning in high-pressure boilers, due to its high calorific value, high yield, seed propagation, short cycle, and to the possibility of full mechanization of its agricultural processes. However, there is still a lack of information about its cultural practices. To this end, this research aimed to evaluate the influence of row spacing and plant population on the yield performance of biomass sorghum. The experimental design was a randomized block, in factorial scheme of 4 x 4, with four row spacings (0.5, 0.7, 0.9 and 1.1m), andfour plant populations (80,000; 100,000; 120,000 and 140,000 plants [ha.sup.-1]), with three replications. The characteristics evaluated were: plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, number of tillers per plant, fresh weight per plant and biomass. Total biomass yield was greatly influenced by the row spacing, showing a sharp reduction when row spacing increased, in the two years of study, changing from 180.27 to 114.42t ha1 in the 2012/13 crop year, and from 146.50 to 102.56t ha1 in the 2013/14 crop year, for 0.5 and 1.1m between rows, respectively. The lowest yields observed in the second year of the study were due to unfavorable weather conditions in the period. Key words: lignocellulosic sorghum, plant spacing, seeding density, bio-energy, cultural management. O sorgo biomassa e uma das culturas mais promissoras para a producao de energia eletrica, atraves da queima da planta inteira em caldeiras de alta pressao, devido ao seu alto poder calorifico, alta produtividade, propagacao por sementes, ciclo curto e por possibilitar mecanizacao completa de seus processos agricolas. Contudo, ainda ha uma carencia de informacoes acerca do seu manejo cultural. Para tanto, esta pesquisa objetivou avaliar a influencia do espacamento entrelinhas e da populacao de plantas no desempenho produtivo do sorgo biomassa. Os experimentos foram instalados em Sete Lagoas/MG, na Embrapa Milho e Sorgo, durante duas safras consecutivas. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi em blocos ao acaso, em esquema fatorial 4 x 4, sendo 4 espacamentos entrelinhas (0,5; 0,7; 0,9 e 1,1m) e 4populacoes de plantas (80.000; 100.000; 120.000 e 140.000 plantas ha-) e utilizadas tres repeticoes. As caracteristicas avaliadas foram: altura da planta, diametro do colmo, numero de folhas, numero de perfilhos por planta, massa fresca por planta e biomassa total por area cultiva