Abstract
Sorghum is an important crop in livestock systems of arid and semi-arid tropics which are characterized by low precipitation or limited irrigation capacity. Potential to yield high biomass, ability to grow/regrow rapidly in hot, dry environments, resistance to drought and low input and irrigation costs makes sorghum the best alternate forage crop to corn in the scenario of climate change. Differences in the yield and quality traits were observed in sorghum forages ranging from grain to forage types. Brown midrib forage sorghum types have lower lignin and higher in vitro digestibility than other types. Photosensitive sorghum types are high biomass yielding varieties which have lower digestibility than other types. Sweet sorghum types are rich in water-soluble carbohydrates, suitable for silage making and able to support reasonable body weight gain in sheep even without supplementation. However, individual varietal differences in forage sorghum types in terms of composition, intake, digestibility and animal performance were noticed. Hence, decision-making on selection of forage sorghum for cultivation should be based on individual varieties rather than on a broad type. Conservation method of forage also has influence on intake, digestibility and performance of growing sheep. When cereal forages are compared, sorghum forage was intermediary between maize and pearl millet in terms of intake, digestibility and daily gain. Feeding trials in lactating dairy cows indicated that sorghum silages particularly bmr type could successfully replace corn silage in the diets without affecting the fat corrected milk yield, composition and quality. Future research should include genetic improvement of sorghum for biomass yield and quality through multidimensional crop improvement programme (exploiting heterosis in the existing cultures and marker assisted selection) and evaluating the different forage sorghum cultivars in lactating dairy cows in comparison to corn or other cereal forage crops in terms of performance, economics and natural resource use efficiency. This helps in intensification of forage based livestock systems in arid and semi-arid regions of the world for enhanced animal sourced foods production.
Keywords
- Forage sorghum
- Cultivars
- Quality traits
- Performance
- Ruminants
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Abdelhadi LO, Santini FJ (2006) Corn silage versus grain sorghum silage as a supplement to growing steers grazing high quality pastures: effects on performance and ruminal fermentation. Anim Feed Sci Technol 127:33–43
Afzal M, Ahmad A, Ahmad AH (2012) Effect of nitrogen on growth and yield of sorghum forage (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench cv.) under three cuttings system. Cercetari Agron. Mol Ther 45:57–64
Akabari VR, Parmar HP (2014) Heterosis response and combining ability for green fodder yield and quality traits in forage sorghum. J Prog Agric 5:9–14
Amelework B, Shimelis H, Tongtoona P, Mark Laing M, Mengistu F (2015) Genetic variation in lowland sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) landraces assessed by simple sequence repeats. Plant Gener Resour 13:131–141
Amer S, Seguin P, Mustafa AF (2012) Effects of feeding sweet sorghum silage on milk production of lactating dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 95:859–863
Aydin GR, Grant RJ, Rear JO (1999) Brown midrib sorghum in diets for lactating dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 82:2127–2135
Barnes RF, Gustine DL (1973) Allelochemistry and forage crops. Anti-quality components of forages. Crops Sci Soc Am 4(1):1–13. (special issue)
Barriere Y, Guillet C, Goffner D, Pichon M (2003) Genetic variation and breeding strategies for improved cell wall digestibility in annual forage crops. A review. Anim Res 52:193–228
Bean B, McCollum T, Pietch D, Rowland M, Banta J, VanMeter R, Simmons J (2001) Texas panhandle irrigated sorghum silage trial.http://agrilife.org/amarillo/files/2010/11/2001 sorghumsilage.pdf
Bean B (2006) Producing quality forage sorghum silage. http://amarillo.tamu.edu
Bean B, McCollum T (2006) Summary of six years of forage sorghum variety trials. http://amarillo.tamu.edu
Bean BW, Baumhardt RL, McCollum IFT, McCuistion KC (2013) Comparison of sorghum classes for grain and forage yield and forage nutritive value. Filed Crops Res 142:20–26
Beck P, Poe K, Stewart B, Capps P, Gray H (2013) Effect of brown midrib gene and maturity at harvest on forage yield and nutritive quality of sudangrass. Grassl Sci 59:52–58
Bernard JK (2015) Forage sorghum for dairy cattle. https://articles.extension.org/pages/71948/forage-sorghum-for-dairy-cattle
Berti M, Johnson B, Gesch R, Samarappuli D, Ji Y, Seames W, Srinivas Reddy K (2013) Forage sorghum: an excellent feedstock for second generation biofules in the north central region of the USA. In: Proceedings of 21st European biomass conference. pp 160–165. ISBN 978-88-89407-53-0
Blummel M, Vishala A, Ravi D, Prasad KVSV, Reddy Ch R, Seetharama N (2010) Multi-environmental investigations of food-feed trait relationships in kharif and rabi sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) over several years of cultivars testing in India. Anim Nutr Feed Technol 10s:11–21
Borba LFP, Ferreira M, Guim A, Tabosa JN (2012) Nutritive value of different silage sorghum (Sorghum bicolr L. Moench) cultivars. Acta Sci Anim Sci 4:123–129
Brocke KV, Trouche G, Weltzien E, Barro CPK, Sidibe A, Zougmore R (2014) Helping farmers adapt to climate and cropping system change through increased access to sorghum genetic resources adapted to prevalent sorghum cropping systems in Burkina Faso. Exp Agric 50:284–305
Brouk MJ, Bean B (2011) Sorghum in dairy production feeding guide. http://www.sorghumcheckoff.com/assets/media/feedingguides/dairyhandbookweb.pdf
Browning CB, Lusk JW (1966) Comparison of feeding value of corn and grain sorghum silages on the basis of milk production and digestibility. J Dairy Sci 49:1511–1514
Casler MD, Pedersen JF, Undersander DJ (2003) Forage yield and economic losses associated with the brown midrib trait in Sudan grass. Crop Sci 47:782–789
Cattani M, Guzzo N, Mantovani R, Bailoni L (2017) Effects of total replacement of corn silage with sorghum silage on milk yield, composition and quality. J Anim Sci Biotechnol 8:15
Colombini S, Rapetti L, Colombo D, Galassi G, Crovetto GM (2010) Brown midrib forage sorghum silage for the dairy cow: nutritive value and comparison with corn silage in the diet. Italian J Anim Sci 9:273–277
Colombini S, Galassi G, Crovetto GM, Rapetti L (2012) Milk production, nitrogen balance and fibre digestibility prediction of corn, whole plant grain sorghum and forage sorghum silages in the dairy cow. J Dairy Sci 95:4457–4467
Conn EE (1980) Cyanogenic compounds. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 31:433–451
Contreras-Govea FE, Marsalis MA, Lauriault LM, Bean BW (2010) Forage sorghum nutritive value: a review. Online. Forage and Grazinglands. https://doi.org/10.1094/FG-2010-0125-01-RV
Dann HM, Grant RJ, Cotanch KW, Thomas ED, Ballard CS, Rice R (2008) Comparison of brown midrib sorghum-sudangrass with corn silage lactational performance and nutrient digestibility of Holstein dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 91:663–672
Di Marco ON, Ressia MA, Arias S, Aello MS, Arzadun M (2009) Digestibility of forage silages from grain, sweet and bmr sorghum types: comparison of in vivo, in situ and in vitro data. Anim Feed Sci Technol 153:161–168
Fisk J (1980) Effects of HCN, phenolic acids and related compounds in Sorghum bicolor on the feeding behaviour of the plant hopper Peregrinus maidis. Entomol Exp Appl 27:211–222
Fonseca L, Mezzalira JC, Bremm C, Filho RSA, Gonda HL, Carvalho PCF (2012) Management targets for maximising the short-term herbage intake rate of cattle grazing in Sorghum bicolor. Livest Sci 145:205–211
Gourley LM, Lusk JW (1978) Genetic parameters related to sorghum silage quality. J Dairy Sci 61:1821–1827
Grant RJ, Haddad SG, Moore KJ, Pedersen JF (1995) Brown midrib sorghum silage for mid lactation dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 78:1970–1980
Hough B, Green LW, McCollum FT III, Bean B, Cole A, Montgomery T (2003) Performance of feedlot heifers fed corn silage or brown midrib forage sorghum silage as the roughage portion of a finishing diet. Am Soc Anim Sci. http://amarillo.tamu.edu
Jalajakshi K, Ramana Reddy Y, Prasad RV (2018) Effect of feeding sweet sorghum silage with or without supplementation on nutrient digestibilities and performance in Nellore brown ram lambs. Indian J Anim Res 52:724–729
Jung HG, Allen MS (1995) Characteristics of plant cell walls affecting intake and digestibility of forages by ruminants. J Anim Sci 73:2774–2279
Khan AA, Rao MS, Ravi D, Prasad KVSV, Kumar BP, Reddy YR, Blummel M (2014) Comparison of feeding hays from different cereal crops supplemented with concentrate mixture on intake and nutrient utilization in Deccani sheep. In: Proceedings of Global Animal Nutrition Conference, 20–22 April, 2014, Bangalore, India p 340
Kojima M, Poulton JE, Thayer SS, Conn EE (1979) Tissue distribution of dhurrin and of enzymes involved in its metabolism in leaves of Sorghum bicolor. Plant Physiol 63:1022–1028
Lance RD, Foss DC, Krueger CR, Baumgardt BR, Niedermeier RP (1964) Evaluation of corn and sorghum silages on the basis of milk production and digestibility. J Dairy Sci 47:254–257
Ledgerwood DN, Depeters EJ, Robinson PH, Taylor SJ, Heguy JM (2009) Assessment of a brown midrib (BMR) mutant gene on the nutritive value of sudangrass using in vitro and in vivo techniques. Anim Feed Sci Technol 150:207–222
Lusk JW, Karau PK, Balogu DO, Gourley LM (1984) Brown midrib sorghum or corn silage for milk production 1. J Dairy Sci 67:1739–1744
Majak W, McDiarmid RE, Hall JW, Cheng KJ (1990) Factors that determine rates of cyanogenesis in bovine ruminal fluid. In Vitro J Anim Sci 68:1648–1655
McCollum FT III, McCuistion K, Bean B (2005) Brown midrib photoperiod-sensitive forage sorghums. In: Proceedings of the Plains Nutrition Council. http://amarillo.tamu.edu
Meyer DW (1993) Evaluation of herbaceous biomass crops in the northern Great Plains. Final report ORNL/sub/88-SB844/2. Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge, TN
Meyer DW, Brosz JD (1979) Evaluation of sweet sorghum in North Dakota. Final report on purchase order S-2975. Battelle, Columbus, OH
Miron J, Zuckerman E, Adin G, Solomon R, Shoshani E, Nikbachat M, Yosef E, Zenou A, Weinberg ZG, Chen Y (2007) Comparison of two forage sorghum varieties with corn and the effect of feeding their silages on eating behaviour and lactation performance of dairy cows. Anim Feed Sci Technol 139:23–39
Neto AB, Reis RHPD, Cabral LDS, Abreu JGD, Sousa DDP, Sousa FGD (2017) Nutritional value of sorghum silage of different purposes. Ciênc Agrotec [Online] 41:288–299
Oliver AL, Grant RJ, Pendersen JF, Rear JO (2004) Comparison of brown midrib-6 and -18 forage sorghum with conventional sorghum and corn silage in diets of lactating dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 87:637–644
Oliver AL, Pedersen JF, Grant RJ, Klopfenstein TJ (2005) Comparative effects of the sorghum bmr-6 and bmr-12 genes: I forage Sorghum yield and quality. Crop Sci 45:2234–2239
Patil JV, Bhat BV, Umakanth AV (2015) Sorghum as a green fodder resource. Indian Institute of Millet Research, ICAR, Hyderabad, pp 1–12
Rao MS, Khan AA, Ravi D, Prasad KVSV, Sunil Reddy D, Reddy YR, Blummel M (2014) Comparison of feeding silage made from different cereal crops with concentrate supplementation on intake and nutrient utilization in Deccani sheep. In: Proceedings of Global Animal Nutrition Conference, 20–22 April, 2014, Bangalore, India. pp 341
Reed JD, Kebede Y, Fussel LK (1988) Factors affecting the nutritive value of sorghum and millet crop residues. In: Proceedings of Plant Breeding and the Nutritive value of Crop Residues. ILRI, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pp 233–251
Sanchez AC, Subudhi PK, Rosenow DT, Nguyen HT (2002) Mapping QTLs associated with drought resistance (Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench). Plant Mol Biol 48:713–726
Sattler SE, Funnell HDL, Pedersen JF (2010) Brown midrib mutations and their importance to the utilization of maize, sorghum and pearl millet lingo-cellulosic tissues. Plant Sci 178:229–238
Sniffen CJ, O’Connor JD, Van Soest PJ (1992) A net carbohydrate and protein system for evaluation of cattle diets. II Carbohydrate and protein availability. J Anim Sci 70:3562–3577
Su-jiang Z, Chaudhry AS, Osman A, Shi CQ, Edwards GR, Dewhurst RJ (2015) Associative effects of sweet sorghum and alfalfa on nutritive value, fermentation and methane characteristics. Anim Feed Sci Technol 206:29–38
Vinutha KS, Rao PS, Anil Kumar GS, Prasad KVSV, Ramana Reddy Y, Prakasham RS, Yaswanth VVN, Blummel M (2015) Evaluation of different cultivars of sorghum for fodder quality and agronomic performance in semi-arid tropics. In: Proceedings of IX biennial ANA conference, 22–24 January, 2015, Guwahati, India. p 147
Vinutha KS, Khan AA, Prakasham RS, Rao PS, Ravi D, Prasad KVSV, Ramana Reddy Y, Blummel M (2016) Comparison of ensiled maize, sorghum and pearl millet forages fed to sheep. Proceedings of XVI Biennial Animal Nutrition Conference, 6–8 February, 2016, NDRI, Karnal, India. p 169
Vinutha KS, Khan AA, Ravi D, Prasad KVSV, Ramana Reddy Y, Blummel M (2018) Comparison of the fodder quality of sorghum and pearl millet forages relative to a maize forage reference. Trop Grass Lands (in press)
Ward GM, Boren FW, Smith EF, Brethour JR (1966) Relation between dry matter content and dry matter consumption of sorghum silage. J Dairy Sci 95:859–863
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Reddy, Y.R., Blümmel, M. (2020). Options for Enhancing Sorghum Forage Utilization in Ruminants. In: Tonapi, V.A., Talwar, H.S., Are, A.K., Bhat, B.V., Reddy, C.R., Dalton, T.J. (eds) Sorghum in the 21st Century: Food – Fodder – Feed – Fuel for a Rapidly Changing World. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8249-3_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8249-3_26
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-8248-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-8249-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)