PUMMY KUMARI*, NEERAJ KHAROR, B. L. SHARMA AND D. S. PHOGAT
Forage Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : pummy.hau@gmail.com)
(Received : 15 October 2022; Accepted : 22 December 2022)
SUMMARY
Sorghum is a versatile crop and is mainly used as fodder crop in North India. Due to high total soluble solids, crude protein percent and invitro dry matter digestibility it is good for animal health and is preferred by animals over maize and pearl millet. Major breeding objective for any forage sorghum improvement program are high green biomass yield, good quality along with resistance against major insect pests and foliar diseases. Sorghum has ability for inherently high green biomass accumulation, high productivity per unit water utilization. Keeping above facts in view, we have evaluated ten hybrids and four advanced forage sorghum lines, along with four checks for fodder yield, quality and regeneration potential. The first cut of the crop was taken 64 days after sowing. Maximum green and dry fodder yield coupled with better quality was shown by hybrids SPH 1907 and SPH 1879, CSH24MF, CSV33MF and SSG 59-3. These hybrids can be used in future for high green and dry biomass production to fulfill the growing demand of fodder in the country.
Key words: Sorghum, green fodder, digestibility, quality