Tips for planting and growing grain sorghum

Sorghum Grain - One of the most ancient cereals, feed and food crops, which is widely known mainly as a concentrated pet food. Recently, however, this grass has gained great popularity among supporters of proper nutrition and nutritionists, who recommend to include sorghum in the diet of those who watch their weight. The fact is that wheat and some other cereals contain a specific protein, gluten, which can cause allergies, impedes metabolism and promotes the growth of fat deposits in tissues. But sorghum contains a small amount of gluten and a lot of fiber, so the cereal became the basis of a healthy diet all over the world and is grown in almost all countries of middle latitudes.

Place in the rotation

Precursors for sorghum can be assessed by three indicators. Preferably in terms of moisture reserves in the soil - winter wheat; by debris - oats and beets, but by quantity of crop residues - spring barley, winter wheat, fodder beet. Thus, the predecessors go in order:

• winter wheat;
• spring barley and maize;
• fodder beet;
• oats;
• sunflower.

Corn - also a valid predecessor for sorghum, as it leaves moisture and nutrients, which helps the growth and development of grain sorghum. The lack of corn in this case is an excess of crop residues, which make it difficult to cultivate the soil before sowing and further care. Therefore, if corn is used as a precursor, then in the autumn period special attention should be paid to leveling the soil and planting crop residues. Sunflower may also be a predecessor, but when using it, it is imperative to carry out the destruction of the sprout of a drop.

The following patterns of alternation of crops crop rotation:

I.

1. Black steam;
2. Winter wheat;
3. Winter wheat;
4. Corn (grain) + sorghum at ½;
5. Corn for silage;
6. Winter wheat;
7. Peas;
8. Winter wheat;
9. Sunflower.

Ii.

1. Green peas;
2. Winter wheat;
3. Corn (grain);
4. Corn for silage;
5. Winter wheat;
6. Sorghum;
7. Spring cereals;
8. Peas (grain);
9. Winter wheat;
10. Sunflower.

Sorghum soil

The technological scheme for the cultivation of sorghum provides for a number of preparatory activities for the soil: the destruction of weeds, leveling the surface and soil moisture. Sorghum to the soil is not too demanding, suitable heavy, light and saline soils. The most successful for sorghum are loose, moist, well heated and aerated soil. The tillage before sowing should consist of harrowing the soil in early spring and one or two plowings.

Soil sorghum fertilizer

Sorghum - a culture that is quite demanding of fertilizers, despite its ability to independently obtain nutrients from the soil. The plant responds well to mineral and organic fertilizers and uses them very economically.

Sorghum needs almost twice, or even three times less nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than corn. Nitrogen is necessary for the culture for intensive growth and increasing the area of ​​hardwood surface, therefore, to obtain a good crop, you need to make high doses of nitrogen.Phosphorus is also important in the life of grain sorghum, its amount should be one and a half to two times less than nitrogen, about 90-100 kg / ha for irrigation. Potassium helps the accumulation of sugar in sorghum grains.

With a small crop yield (up to 5 tons per 1 ha), sorghum consumes potassium from the soil, thereby providing itself with this mineral on its own. If the yield of sorghum is about 7-10 tons per 1 ha, there is a shortage of potassium, so you need to make it in combination with other fertilizers in the amount of 40-60 kg per hectare.

It is worth remembering that nitrogen fertilizers when applied together with phosphate have a negative impact on the germination of seeds. Therefore, you need to make fertilizer locally and deeper sowing seeds. If fertilizer is applied in this way, the yield will increase by 3-3.5 times than when full fertilizer is applied for plowing. Sorghum also loves organic fertilizers, such as manure, at the rate of 10-20 tons per hectare. It is best to make it in the fall when preparing the soil and in the spring, placing it aside from the seed, locally and deeper than the sowing.

Selection of varieties and seed dressing

There are several options for classifying sorghum., based on the different purpose of varieties of this cereal in culture. The most common cultivation of the three main types of sorghum: grain, sugar and broom. The latter type is used for the production of brushes and brooms, and sugar sorghum - for feeding purposes and for obtaining molasses from the stems.

Grain sorghum includes all varieties that are grown for grain. The height of their stems is from half a meter to one and a half, the grain is round and bare, easily collapsing. Among the grain varieties that have high yield, cold resistance and drought resistance, emit Genicheskoe 11, Horizont, Krymdar 10, Saturn, Kuban Red 1677, Orange 450, Cactus, Odessa 205, as well as Stepnoy 5 hybrids, Rossorg 4 and Zernograd 8.

For several weeks, sorghum seeds are being prepared for sowing.. They are etched to avoid the defeat of fungal and bacterial diseases and to destroy the internal microflora, which has a negative effect on growth. It is better to use treaters combined, such as "Fentiuram" ("TMTD" 40% + copper trichlorophenolate 10% + gamma isomer GHTSG15%), they work better than fungicides alone.

Today, there are universal drugs that make it possible to treat the seeds with a semi-dry method. With such dressing, 5-10 l of water + combined dressing agents 1.5–2 kg + soluble glass 150 g are taken for 1 ton of seeds. It is worth remembering that with semi-dry pickling the moisture content of the seeds increases to 1%.

The optimal time for sorghum sowing

A suitable sowing period is when the average daily temperature at a ten-centimeter depth of the soil is + 14 ... +16 ° C. With early sowing, seedlings are rare and overgrown with weeds. At the optimum soil temperature, the seedlings will appear on the 10-14th day after sowing, and if the temperature rises to + 25 ... +28 ° С, - on the 5-6th day.

Method of seeding sorghum

Among all the spring grain sorghum has the smallest seeds, despite the fact that its hybrids and varieties are very different in mass of seeds. With the tendency of sorghum to intense bushiness, you need to take into account the weight seeding rate, which is calculated from the width between rows and the density of plants per hectare.A sowing rate of about 160-170 thousand plants per 1 ha is recommended. On average, it is 10-14 kg per hectare.

Calculating the rate of sowing sorghum, it is necessary to take into account the field germination of seeds. The seeds of modern hybrids of good quality have high laboratory germination (from 82% to 95%), but low field similarity - 12-19%.

To sow the seeds you need in a moist soil, while not deeply patching. Since sorghum is a small-seed crop, with a deep sowing the shoot period will increase, the plants will appear weak and not resistant to adverse weather. The optimum depth is 7 cm. When the upper layer of the soil is dried, it is possible to embed up to 10-12 cm, with rollers being rolled after sowing. If just before sowing heavy rain fell, you can allow a depth of 4 cm. This depth is most acceptable on irrigated land.

A high grain yield of sorghum is obtained by observing the small width of the rows between rows - 60 and 45 cm. Reducing the width between rows with the same density allows you to distribute the plants evenly in rows, it is better to provide them with food and increase yields.

Sorghum crops care

Sorghum cultivation technology includes several phased activities. First after sowing - Rolling with ringed rollers, after which lumps torn from the soil form a mulch layer. After 5 days after sowing, pre-emergence harrowing of sorghum with medium harrows is carried out to destroy weeds.

If after sowing the cold came again, and the sorghum on the 10th day did not reach more than 2-3 cm, then harrowing should be repeated. In the first such procedure, weeds are destroyed by 60%, and after the second - by 85%. Timely and thorough harrowing replaces one interrow cultivation.

After prolonged rains, a crust forms on the surface of the ground, it must be destroyed in time, because it prevents the development of seedlings. Before the emergence of sprouts, the crust can be destroyed by harrowing, but if it was formed during the period of germination, then it must be eliminated with rotating hoes at an increased speed (up to 9 km / h). Further care consists in cultivating the inter-row cultivators, which simultaneously fertilize. Cultivation helps remove weeds, saturate the root system with oxygen, and retain moisture before flowering and ripening of the grains.

Cultivation begins as soon as the rows of sorghum are clearly visible.The depth of the first treatment should be 10-12 cm. The next is carried out in 2-3 weeks with a depth of 8-10 cm, and the third - in a few weeks after the second to a depth of 6-8 cm.

Weed control and protection from pests and diseases

The most harmful weeds for sorghum - these are bristles, which make up 90-95% of the total weight of weeds. It is easy to destroy them by harrowing sorghum in the germination phase. After germination and rooting, they become resistant to harrowing and to certain herbicides. You can destroy them "Agritox" (0.7-1.7 kg per hectare), "2.4 D" (0.5-1 kg per hectare), "2M-4X" (0.5-1.1 kg per hectare).

Cereal sorghum can affect pests such as aphids, cotton moths, a meadow moth, wireworms, and wire guards. These insects cause irreparable damage to the crop by eating young leaves, leaf plates, stems, and grains. To combat the already spreading pests, it is necessary to treat with Operkot (0.16 kg per hectare), systemic insecticide Zenit (0.2 l per hectare). During the mass reproduction of larvae pests - spray the drug "Bi-58".

If several larvae are found on a single plant, repeat spraying after 15 days with the biological preparations “Hapelin” (0.8–1.0 kg per hectare), Dendrobatsillin (0.5–1.0 kg per hectare), and Lepidocide ( 1.5-2.0 kg per hectare). Of the sorghum diseases most exposed leaf spot, smut, rust, stem rot, gelmintosporiozu, fusarium and alternariosis, which reduce the crop.

To prevent this, it is necessary to destroy crop residues in a timely manner, to remove damaged areas, to cultivate the soil, to pickle seeds, to make potash and phosphate fertilizers, since it is impossible to grow a good harvest of sorghum without complying with these agrotechnical measures.

Sorghum Harvesting

Sorghum grain is usually not showered; it is harvested when the grain is fully ripe. At the same time before cleaning determine the humidity. The peculiarity of sorghum is that the grain usually matures in a panicle, when the whole leafy mass is still green and has a leaf moisture content of 60%, and the stems are 70%. The moisture content of the grain should be 25-30%, then you can start cleaning.

Harvest direct harvesting using harvesting machines. In order to avoid crushing the grain during threshing, the speed is reduced to 500-600 per minute. In order to get dry grain, it is necessary to carry out separate cleaning, especially for early ripening varieties. A ZHN-6 header is used, which bevels a mass at a low cut (up to 15 cm) and folds it into rolls.

Two weeks after the grain and greens are dried in rolls, threshing is carried out by a combine. Green sorghum is harvested while the panicle is ejected, leaving a cut of 10-12 cm.