PLANT ARRANGEMENT AND NITROGEN FERTILIZATION IN GRAIN SORGHUM PRODUCTION

Abstract

The appropriate arrangement of sorghum plants combined with the supply of nutrients increases grain yield. In this context, the objective was to evaluate the agronomic performance of grain sorghum grown under different plant arrangements and nitrogen fertilization levels. Experiments were carried out in Rio Verde and Montividiu in a 3 x 2 factorial randomized completely block design with six replications, with three spacing between rows (reduced, traditional and double row) and the use or not of 90 kg ha-1 topdressing nitrogen. There was a beneficial effect of topdressing nitrogen fertilization on grain yield when sorghum was grown in double rows in both locations, and for the reduced arrangement in Montividiu. However, the effect of topdressing nitrogen fertilization on grain yield in the traditional arrangement was not found. The dry shoot biomass of sorghum plants increased with nitrogen fertilization in Montividiu. The arrangement or topdressing nitrogen fertilization did not influence the thousand-grain weight of Sorghum.