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Effect of Plant Density on Sweet and Biomass Sorghum Production on Semiarid Marginal Land

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Abstract

Plant density substantially affects sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) productivity. Therefore, density optimisation plays a pivotal role in crop management practices. A 2-year field experiment was conducted on sandy loam marginal land in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, to (1) determine the mechanism underlying the impact of plant density (i.e. 6.0, 7.5, 9.0, 10.5 and 12.0 plant m−2) on biomass yield, quality and photosynthetic efficiency and (2) determine the optimum plant density for sweet sorghum variety GT-3 and biomass sorghum variety GN-4. Results indicate that plant height, leaf area index (LAI), leaf area duration (LAD) and biomass yield increased as plant density increased, but tiller number, stem diameter and net assimilation rate (NAR) decreased. The growth period between elongation and anthesis dates was crucial to sorghum productivity; during this period, LAD was the determining factor for biomass yield. Increase in plant density up to 10.5 plant m−2 led to a high LAI level, an extended LAD, a high and stable NAR and a positive balance between photosynthesis and respiration processes, all of which contributed to highest biomass yield (13.2 t ha−1). Ultimately, sweet-type variety GT-3 demonstrated the highest theoretical ethanol yield (4147 L ha−1) and relative feed value (112.3%) compared with biomass-type variety GN-4.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support of Inner Mongolia Tehong Biological Co., Ltd., for sorghum planting and management.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470555).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No. 2, Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China

    Chaochen Tang, Chuandong Sun, Fu Du, Feng Chen, Asif Ameen, Tongcheng Fu & Guang Hui Xie

  2. National Energy R&D Center for Non-food Biomass, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Chaochen Tang, Chuandong Sun, Fu Du, Feng Chen, Asif Ameen, Tongcheng Fu & Guang Hui Xie

Authors
  1. Chaochen Tang
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  2. Chuandong Sun
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  3. Fu Du
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  4. Feng Chen
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  5. Asif Ameen
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  6. Tongcheng Fu
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  7. Guang Hui Xie
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Correspondence to Guang Hui Xie.

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Tang, C., Sun, C., Du, F. et al. Effect of Plant Density on Sweet and Biomass Sorghum Production on Semiarid Marginal Land. Sugar Tech 20, 312–322 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-017-0553-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-017-0553-3

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