performance of the forage sorghum hybrid ‘cfsh30’ in the sudan

8/11/2019 Performance of the Forage Sorghum Hybrid CFSH30 in the Sudan

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Performance of the Forage Sorghum Hybrid CFSH30 inthe Sudan

By

Maarouf I. Mohammed1and Thabit M. Ahmed2

Abstract

The comparative performance of the introduced forage sorghum hybrid

CFSH30 was investigated in seven trials conducted in Khartoum State

across four locations during the years 2007, 08 and 09. Another

investigation was carried in the White Nile State at the Farm of

Kenana

Sugar Company during 2009. The hybrid CFSH30 was tested against the

standard checks: Pannar 888, Safed Motti (recommended commercialhybrids), Kambal (recommended Abu Sabin) and the traditional cultivars

Garawi and Abu Sab'in.

The new hybrid CFSH30 showed outstanding multi-cut ability with

average yield advantage ranging from 60% to 65% over the standard

checks. Its comparatively low yield in the first cut has been adequately

compensated by the multi-cut advantage. CFSH30 was 10 days earlier

than the earliest check, has short stature and 9.1% crude protein content.

It was concluded that such merits will contribute positively to the

predominating one-cut system of Abu Sabin. The new hybrid is more

fitting to mechanized forage production system, which if adopted will

revolutionize forage production in the Sudan. The release of CFSH30 for

commercial forage production in the Sudan has been proposed.

Introduction

Agricultural production is the mainstay of the Sudanese economy and

national income. The Quarter-century Plan (2002 -027), the 1stFive-year

Plan (2002-06) and the 2

nd

Five-year Plan (2007-011) have focused onagricultural development to achieve food security using indicators

including population growth, the rise in livestock numbers and increase in

per capita consumption of animal products.

1Plant breeder, P O Box 30. ARC. Khartoum North. SUDAN

2Soil scientist, R & D,Kenana Sugar Company. SUDAN


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According to the statistical records of the Ministry of Agriculture and

Animal Wealth for the past seven years (2002-08) forage crops have

acquired a privileged status in the cropping system of Khartoum State

occupying the bulk of the cultivable land. However, according to the

same statistics, the estimates of production for the year 2008 (4.2 million

ton) is well behind the need for forage estimated for the same period (8

million ton) pointing to a fodder gap of about 48 % deficit. The

Government policy, therefore, is targeting the vertical and horizontal

increase of animal feed through introduction of improved varieties and

expansion of the area under fodder crops.

The traditional variety Abu Sab'in covered around 75 % of the land

cropped to fodders in Khartoum State (Appendix 1). Abu Sab'in doesnt

lend it self to hay making system under mechanized forage production.

However, it suits the green chopping system that prevails in the Sudan.

This system has been able in the past to meet the need for fodder;

nowadays, in view of the rapid pace towards urbanization it is no longer

capable of playing that role as it doesnt allow employing modern means

of production that facilitates wide scale production of forage crops.

Introduction of forage sorghum cultivars with attributes better that of Abu

Sab'in might help in boosting fodder production in the Sudan.

The following paper highlights the major findings of a study undertaken

to investigate the performance of introduced forage sorghum hybrid in theSudan as compared to the standard checks.

Materials and Methods

The introduced forage sorghum hybrid 'CFSH30 was received from the

Canadian Company: Agriculture Environmental Renewal Canada Inc.

(AERC Inc.) via Dr. Sami Bella of the Faculty of Animal Production,

University of Khartoum. The hybrid was tested against the following

standard checks: Pannar 888, Safed Motti (recommended commercialhybrids), Kambal (recommended Abu Sabin) and the traditional cultivars

Garawi and Abu Sab'in. Seven trials were conducted during the years

2007, 2008 and 2009 in Khartoum State (Shambat, FekiHashim, Kuku

and Islang East) to investigate the agronomic performance of the hybrid

CFSH30 in comparison to the standard checks. The performance of the

hybrid was also investigated in the White Nile State at Kenana Farm.


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Table 1 shows sowing date, design, plot size and the standard check used

in each experiment. The seeds were sown in furrows opened on both side

of the ridge. The seeding rate was monitored to fit approximately 50 to 75

seeds per m/row. Irrigation water was applied every 7 to 10 days in all

experiment other than those conducted at Kuku 2008 and FekiHashim

2009 where shortage in irrigation water was encountered either because

of pump damage (Kuku) or Nile recession (FekiHashim). The treatments

received 55 kg n. /ha at second irrigation. Weeds were kept at minimum

by hand weeding. The whole plot was harvested to determine the green

matter yield (GMY). The first and the subsequent cuts were taken when

each cultivar completed 50 % flowering. Nitrogen dose of 55 kg n. /ha

was given following each cut. GMY, dry matter yield (DMY), days to

flowering, plant height, plant count and leaf to stem ratio were recorded

Proximate analysis on dry matter basis for crude protein (CP) crude fiber

(CF) Ash and ether extract (EE) were studied for the introduced hybrid

following the standard procedure of the A.O.A.C. (1980). Chemical

analysis was carried out in the laboratory of the Faculty of Animal

Production, University of Khartoum, Shambat.

Table 1. Some of the methods and materials used in experiments

conducted in Khartoum State

Location Sowing Date Design Checks Plot size and method of

sowings

Shambat 8/Oct /2007 RCB 3 Reps Abu Sab'in, Pannar, Kambal 2 ridges 7 x 0.75m each

Shambat 14/Nov/ 2007 RCB 3 Reps Abu Sab'in, Garawi 2 ridges 7 x 0.75m each

Shambat 12/Nov/2008 RCB 3 Reps Garawi, Kambal 3 ridges 6 x 0.75m each

FekiHashim 24/April/2008 RCB 3 Reps Abu Sab'in, Pannar, Kambal 3 ridges 6 x 0.75m each

KuKu 26/Aug/2008 RCB 2 Reps Abu Sab'in, Pannar, Kambal 4 ridges 5 x 0.85m each

Islang 10/Sept/2008 CRD 8 Reps Abu Sab'in On flat in rows spaced 10

cm apart (plot size 4x4m)

FekiHashim 2/Aug/2009 RCB 3 Reps Pannar, Safed Moti 3 ridges 5 x 0.75 m each


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Results

Green natter yield(GMY)

The trials conducted in the year 2007

Tables 2 and 3 show the results of green matter yield obtained by

different cultivars at different cuts in the two trials conducted at Shambat

2007. In both trials, differences between cultivars in GMY of the three

cuts were highly significant (P = 0.003-


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Table 3. Green matter yield obtained at different cuts by the new

forage sorghum hybrid CFSH30 and two local checks (Shambat,

Nov. 2007).

Cultivar

...Green matter yield (t/ha) .

Cut 1 Cut 2 Cut 3 Average

CFSH30 30.5 31.4 25.1 29.0Abu Sab'in (check) 32.9 14.7 7.58 18.4

Garawi (check) 24.8 18.8 13.9 19.2

P. Value 0.003


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Its yield ranged from 32.8 to 10.7 t/ha obtained in the 2nd

and the 5th

cut,

respectively. In contrast, the respective yield of the best check (Garawi)

ranged from 22 to 0.00 t/ha. On the other hand, CFSH30 significantly

outyielded the checks in the average of the 5 cuts showing 25.4 t/ha with

yield advantage over the best check (Garawi) amounted to 65% (Table 4).

At FekiHashim and Islang 2008 where the materials were evaluated for

the 2nd

cut only, CFSH30 also significantly outyielded the standard

checks averaging around 22.8 t/ha in both sites (Tables 5 and 6). The

commercial hybrid Pannar 888 ranked second in GMY at FekiHashim

2008 averaging around 12 t/ha.

Table 4. Performance of the new forage sorghum hybrid CFSH30 for

forage yield across five cuts as compared to two check cultivars(Shambat, 2008)

Cultivar

Green matter yield (t/ha)..

Cut1 Cut2 Cut3 Cut 4 Cut 5 Average

CFSH30 35.6 32.8 29.3 18.9 10.7 25.4

Kambal (check) 38.4 17.1 8.85 7.10 0.00 14.3

Garawi (check) 29.0 22.0 16.2 16.1 0.00 16.7

P. Value 0.004

2.853

8.438

23.2

0.024

1.757

6.898

23.2

SE

LSD (0.05)

CV (%)

Table 5. Forage yield obtained by the new forage sorghum hybrid

CFSH30 and the standard checks (FekiHashim 2008)

Cultivar

Green matter yield (t/ha)

1stcut 2

ndcut

CFSH30 32.7 22.80

Panar888(check) 35.4 12.03

kambal(check) 43.4 6.50

Abu Sab'in (check) 36.3 9.07p. value 0.060


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Table 6. Green matter yield (GMY) in ton/ha of the new forage

sorghum hybrid CFSH30 and Abu Sabin (Islang 2008)

Cultivar

Character

CFSH30 Abu Sab'in

(check)

P.

Value.

SE CV

(%)

GMY 1stCut 29.6 29.0 0.903 3.21 31.0

GMY 2nd

Cut 22.9 9.9


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Yield related traits

Days to flower and plant height: Table 9 shows days to flowering and

plant height obtained by the introduced forage sorghum hybrid (CFSH30)

and the standard checks across different locations in Khartoum State. In

the three trials, CFSH30 was significantly earlier than the checks taking

42, 58 and 56.6 days to flower at Shambat 2007, FekiHashim 2008 and

Islang 2008, respectively. It was at least 10 to 15 days earlier than Abu

Sabin, Kambal and the commercial hybrid Pannar 888. For plant height,

CFSH30 ranged from 163 to 174 across the 3 locations. Its stature was

significantly shorter than Kambal and Pannar 888

Proximate analysis:The proximate analysis carried for the new hybrid

showed that CFSH30 has: 9.1% crude protein (CP), 28.9% crude fiber

(CF), 8.8% Ash and 2.8% ether extract (EE).

Table 8. Performance of the new forage sorghum hybrid CFSH30 for

dry matter yield across five cuts as compared to two check cultivars

(Shambat, 2008)

Cultivar

Dry matter yield (t/ha)

Cut1 Cut2 Cut3 Cut 4 Cut 5 Average

CFSH30 7.38 6.37 7.10 5.88 3.04 5.96

Kambal 8.23 4.07 2.34 2.19 0.00 3.37

Garawi (check) 6.08 5.32 4.55 4.69 0.00 4.13

P. Value 0.005

0.706

2.08424.3

0.029

0.427

1.67724.3

SE

LSD (0.05)CV (%)

Table 9. Two yield-related traits obtained by the new forage sorghum

hybrid CFSH30 and the standard checks of forage sorghum across

different locations in Khartoum State.Location Shambat 2007 FekiHashim 2008 Islang 2008

Cultivar

Daysto

flower

Plantheight (cm)

Days toflower

Plantheight (cm)

Days toflower

Plant height(cm)

CFSH30 42.6 174 58.0 164 56.6 163

Pannar 888 (chk) 56.0 209 67.7 193 - -

Kambal (chk) 58.3 196 81.7 200 - -

Abu Sab'in (chk) 57.3 186 74.7 176 69.1 185

P. Value


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The trial of Kenana

In view of the declared diversification strategy in Kenana Sugar

Company, the research on animal production is gaining an imperative

importance. Thus, widening of fodder crops map, (to suit Kenana

climatic conditions) becomes of paramount importance to vertically boost

animal products (Quantitative and qualitative). Hence, the performance of

the Canadian Forage Sorghum Hybrid 30 (CFSH30) under Kenana

climatic conditions was investigated.

Kenana has a semi-arid tropical climate with high temperatures during

summer and relatively low temperatures during winter. Relative humidity

varies with a maximum of 87% in July and August and a minimum of

15% in February and March. The soil is heavy black deeply cracking

Vertisols, of clay content ranging from 60-65%. It is characterized by low

infiltration rate and it is non-saline and non-sodic with pH ranging from

7.5 to 8.5 and organic matter content of about 2.8%.

Imported seeds of CFSH30 were sown in a field located at the Kenana

Research Farm, (Section 321 16). An average of 4 seeds per hole was

sown on both sides of a ridge (0.75 meter apart, mid February 2009) at

seed rate of 5kg/fed in an area of 1.4 fed. Irrigation cycle was 7 to10

days. Urea fertilizer was used at the rate of one bag per feddan for each

cut.

Harvesting started with the appearance of first inflorescence (40 days

after sowing). Manual cutting of forage at height of 4-6 inches was done

(Recommended for faster re-growth). Yield has been estimated from two

cuts. Nine plots (2 rows x 0.75m spacing X 3m) were randomly selected

for estimation of the following parameters:

a.

Plant height

b.Number of internodes

c. Stalk diameter

d.

Plant population

e.

Yield per unit area

f. Whole plant tissue analysis.

The results obtained were as follows:

CropSeed rate

(kg/fed)

Time to harvesting

(Days)

(tons/ha)C. protein

(%)1

stcut 2

nd

cut

CFSH30 5 40 26.9 26.7 9.22

Abu

Sabin

40-50 60 28.5 14.3 8

Garawi 15-20 50 16.7 16.7 -


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The results illustrated above are convincing, where in the case of the

Canadian hybrid, less seed rate, less time to harvesting is needed, in

addition to that, higher yield with higher nutritional value have been

obtained

Discussions

The new forage sorghum hybrid CFSH30 exhibited a pronounced

capacity for multi-cut ability outperforming the standard checks, in this

attribute, through all trials conducted. Its comparatively low yield in the

first cut has been adequately compensated by the multi-cut advantage as

it significantly outyielded the standard checks in the average of cuts with

yield advantage amounting to at least 60% (Tables 3 and 4). The data

presented in Table 4 indicated that CFSH30 was able to maintain >50%

of its original yield-capacity up to the fourth cut. On the other hand

CFSH30 outperformed the standard checks in earliness, a highly valued

character under the local production system. In addition to its

contribution in reducing costs of productions, earliness enables the crop

to escape unfavorable conditions. In this study, the only case where

CFSH30 outyielded the checks in the first cut occurred when the trials at

KuKu 2008 and FekiHashim 2009 have been subjected to water stress

(Table 9).

The crude protein and fiber contents showed by the hybrid CFSH30

amounted to 9.1% and 28.9%, respectively. These results were quite

comparable to those reported for different types of forage sorghum in the

Sudan (Mohammed et al, 2008; Mohammed and Nuha, 2008).

Conclusions and Recommendations

The results obtained in this study, suggested the validity of introducing

the hybrid CFSH30 to the Sudan specially when considering the pressing

need for diversifying the present forage types. As shown earlier, Abu

Sab'in alone covered around 75 % of the land cropped to fodders in

Khartoum State. The unique multi-cut ability and earliness shown by thehybrid CFSH30 is a good contribution to the predominating one-cut

system of Abu Sabin. Moreover, the good multi-cut ability and the short

stature of CFSH30 make it more fitting to mechanized forage production

system, which if adopted, will revolutionize forage production in the

Sudan.


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In view of the results highlighted and discussed in this study we

recommend the release of the forage sorghum CFSH30 for

commercial production in Sudan. We suggest keeping the original

name: CFSH 30 which stands for Canadian Forage Sorghum Hybrid

# 30.

References

A.O.A.C. (1980). Official methods for analysis. 13th

Ed. Association of

Official

Analytical Chemist. Washington.

Mohammed, Maarouf I., Gamal, E. Khalifa, Ghada H. Abdulrahman and

Mohammed I. Elmahi. (2008). Improvement of the traditional forage

sorghum cultivar 'Abu Sab'in'. Sudan Journal of Agricultural

Research. 11: 25-33.

Mohammed, Maarouf I. and Nuha, H. T. (2008). Heterosis and

combining ability for quality traits in forage sorghum. Australian Journal

of Basic and Applied Sciences. 2: 99-104.

Appendix 1. Area (Fed) planted with forage crops in Khartoum State

(2008/09)

Season Abu Sab'in Berseem Hijazi Corn Others Total (season)

Winter 44,969 20,218 9084 1,025 75,296

Summer 94,370 15,106 428 1,005 110,909

Total (crop) 139,339 35,334 9512 1,030 186,205 (G. Total)

Source: General Directorate of Agricultural Services, Ministry of Agriculture / Khartoum state.

performance of the forage sorghum hybrid ‘cfsh30’ in the sudan

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