Department of Plant Sciences

Because of the growing need of finding alternative fuel, interest is increasing in biofuel crops such as sweet sorghum. Unfortunately, many challenges such as the input cost must be overcome before this plant can be sustainably and profitably used for biofuel production. One way to lower the input cost is through nitrogen fertilization management. To test how sorghum respond to N fertilization, M81E variety used was. The experiment was carried out in three types of soil (clay, sand, and Tipton loam) in Portageville (South Missouri). Seven N rate were applied i.e. (0, 22, 45, 67, 90, 112, and 135 kg/ha) with four repeats. Sorghum was harvested 5 months after planting. Data was collected on biomass production, juice yield, water content, pH, density, sugar yield. SAS was used to determine the differences between treatments. The biomass is highly affected by the soil type (P<.0001), and not by N rate. The amount of water accumulated in sorghum stalk in related to the soil type (P<.0001) and unlike the water content, to the N rate applied (P=0.01). The density of sorghum juice does not depend on the N rate (P=0.34) but instead on the soil type (P=0.02). The pH of sorghum juice does not depend either on the soil type (P=0.13) or on the N rate (P= 0.19). The volume and weight of juice obtained depends on both the soil type (P<.0001) and the N rate (P<0.03). The sugar yield depends on both the soil type (P<.0001) and the N rate (P= 0.02).