Abstract

The biomass and Brix content of sweet sorghum was investigated in 2009 and 2010 to determine the most suitable tillage and fertilization treatments. The experiment was carried out at the Biomass Utilization and Crop Production Demonstration Centre of Szent István University. Both humus content and nitrogen (N) supply of the topsoil was insufficient. In 2009, which was a typical drought year, the yields ranged from 12.14 t/ha (direct drilling) to 56.11 t/ha (ploughing). There were significant differences between the tilled and non-tilled plots. In 2010 as in 2009, the highest yield of 63.52 t/ha was measured in case of ploughing, however cultivating and disk harrowing treatments showed similar biomass results. This study indicates that fertilizers had a significant effect on yields, as in both years highest biomass was obtained at 100 kg ha^-1nitrogen rate. The highest Brix values were measured in 2009 (18.21%) and in 2010 (9.01%) in case of cultivation treatments. In the examination years, direct drilling showed the lowest results for biomass and also regarding Brix values. The results demonstrate that the fertilisation and suitable tillage is very important in the cultivation of sweet sorghum.

Key words: Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), tillage, biomass, Brix.