Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Effects of plant maturity stage on silage quality of some silage sorghum cultivars 

Author(s):

Ibrahim Atis ¹*, Metin Duru ², Omer Konuskan ¹, Huseyin Gozubenli ¹

Recieved Date: 2012-10-15, Accepted Date: 2013-01-24

Abstract:

The present study was conducted to investigate the ensilage properties of sorghum cultivars at different harvesting times. To achieve this aim, four silage sorghum cultivars (cv. Early Sumac, Leotti, Nes and Rox) were harvested at four different growing stages (panicle emergence stage (PE), milky stage (MS), dough stage (DS) and physiologic maturity stage (PM)). For four cultivars and four harvesting times, sorghum forage ensiled for total 16 silage samples with 3 replications. At the end of a 60-days period of silage, silage samples were opened. Dry matter content, crude lipid content, lignin content and flieg point tended to increase with advanced plant maturity, while CO₂ production, neutral detergent fiber content (NDF), acid detergent fiber content (ADF), cellulose content and hemicellulose content tended to decrease. The pH values of sorghum silages were not significantly influenced by harvest time. Also, dry matter content, flieg point, crude lipid content, NDF, ADF, lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose content were significantly influenced by cultivars. These findings showed that suitable harvesting time of forage sorghum is a PM stage for suitable ensilage and among four cultivars, cv. Nes can be preferred because of the high dry matter content, high flieg point and low CO₂ production. 

Keywords:

Dry matter content, silage quality, harvesting time, lignin, cellulose, aerobic stability

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2013
Volume: 11
Issue: 1
Category: Agriculture
Pages: 534-537

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