Source: UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA submitted to
RESOURCE-EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT OF SUMMER ANNUAL DRYLAND CEREAL CROPS IN NEBRASKA
 
PROJECT DIRECTOR: Mason, S. C.
 
PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
AGRONOMY & HORTICULTURE
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
LINCOLN,NE 68583
 
NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Profitable production or maize, grain sorghum and pearl millet in dryland systems requires the efficient use of water, solar radiation and nutrients. This project examines the efficient use of water, solar radiation and nutrients for grain yield and dry matter production. The purpose is to develop dryland production practices for Nebraska that permit profitable production of maize, grain sorghum and pearl millet, thus, maintaining viable crop alternatives for the dryland ecogeographical zone.
 
OBJECTIVES: 1. Develop dryland production practices for Nebraska that permit profitable dryland production of maize, grain sorghum and pearl millet. 2. Participate in potential integrated team effort to determine grain sorghum response to production practices across agroecological zones in the Central Great Plains.
 
APPROACH: 1. Field studies will be conducted on "old" and "new" maize and sorghum hybrid response to different production environments in eastern Nebraska. 2. Field studies on planting date, water rate and timing, N rate and row spacing will be conducted on pearl millet and grain sorghum. 3. A field study on grain sorghum and velvetleaf response to N rate, placement and timing will be conducted. 4. A crop rotation experiment will be used to separate N and non-N rotational benefits using nodulating and non-nodulating soybean isolines.
 
CRIS NUMBER: 0175103 SUBFILE: CRIS
PROJECT NUMBER: NEB-12-260 SPONSOR AGENCY: CSREES
PROJECT TYPE: HATCH PROJECT STATUS: TERMINATED MULTI-STATE PROJECT NUMBER: (N/A)
START DATE: Jun 1, 2002 TERMINATION DATE: May 31, 2008

GRANT PROGRAM: (N/A)
GRANT PROGRAM AREA: (N/A)

CLASSIFICATION
Knowledge Area (KA)Subject (S)Science (F)Objective (G)Percent
203151010602.210%
203152010602.215%
203159910602.210%
205151010602.220%
205152010602.225%
205159910602.220%

CLASSIFICATION HEADINGS
KA203 - Plant Biological Efficiency and Abiotic Stresses Affecting Plants
KA205 - Plant Management Systems
S1510 - Corn
S1520 - Grain sorghum
S1599 - Grain crops, general/other
F1060 - Biology (whole systems)
G2.2 - Increase Efficiency of Production and Marketing Systems


RESEARCH EFFORT CATEGORIES
BASIC 10%
APPLIED 90%
DEVELOPMENTAL (N/A)%

KEYWORDS: grain sorghum; maize; millet; production practices; water use efficiency; planting date; row spacing; nitrogen; nutrient utilization; crop management; dryland farming; management systems; corn; plant biology; crop production; profitability; systems development; plant response; cooperative research; field studies; irrigation schedules; application rate; abutilon theophrasti; crop rotation; soybeans; nodulation; comparative analysis

PROGRESS: Oct 1, 2006 TO Sep 30, 2007
Food-grade sorghum hybrids adapted to Nebraska production environments have similar yields and quality parameters as non-food-grade hybrids. Environmental influences were 2 to 71 times larger than hybrid effects and 17 to 219 times larger than Environment X Hybrid (E X H) interaction effects. The presence of an adequate water supply at critical growth stages appeared to alleviate yield differences between dryland and irrigated environments in 2005. The Mead Low N 2004 environment had extremely low yields of 1.4 Mg ha-1, and highest yields were found at the Clay Center Irrigated environment in 2005. Mead Dryland with Low N 2004 also had the lightest kernels of 9.6 g 1000 kernels-1, with the smallest bulk and true densities of 579 kg m-3 and 1.185 g mL-1, the softest kernels with 73% TADD removal and the lowest starch concentration of 638 g kg-1s. Environments in 2005 had harder kernels than in 2004, and the hardest kernels were from Orleans, with a TADD removal of 14%. Kernels with high starch concentrations of 713 g kg-1 were found in the Mead Low N 2005 environment, where protein concentrations were 80 g kg-1, the lowest of all environments. Although hybrid influences were less than environment, they were 3 to 18 times larger than E X H interaction effects. Check hybrids had an average yield of 7.8 Mg ha-1, and included the best yielding hybrid, Pioneer 84Y00, with 8.2 Mg ha-1, while the best yielding food-grade hybrid, Kelly Green Seed KG6902, had 7.8 Mg ha-1. Dekalb 53-11 produced the heaviest kernels, 27.20 g 1000 kernels-1, which was 3.3 g 1000 kernels-1 more than the heaviest food-grade hybrid, Dekalb 44-41. Macia produced the hardest kernels, as shown by the lowest TADD removal of 21%, which was similar to the food grade hybrid Asgrow Orbit. Kelly Green Seed KG6902, Fontanelle W-1000 and NC+7W92 had lower protein concentrations and higher starch concentrations than other food-grade sorghum hybrids, indicating their usefulness in alcohol production. Kelly Green Seed KG6902, Fontanelle W-1000 and NC+7W92 along with Asgrow Eclipse also had similar behaviors in the rapid viscosity analysis. This is the opposite of the viscosities observed for Macia and the food-grade hybrids Asgrow Orbit and Sorghum Partners NK 1486. Based on the results of this study, the type of environment and hybrid can be selected for specific end-uses. An irrigated environment can be used to produce high yields with the check hybrid Pioneer 84Y00 or the food-grade hybrid Kelly Green Seed KG6902. Dryland environments with low rainfall and low humidity produce harder kernels useful for dry milling food purposes, and the hardest food-grade sorghums were Macia and Asgrow Orbit. Alcohol production for beer or ethanol works best with sorghum that is high in starch and low in protein, which can be produced in low N environments with an adequate water supply. The food-grade hybrids Kelly Green Seed KG6902, NC+7W92, and Fontanelle W-1000 are low protein, high starch candidates for beer brewing. Nebraska environments have the capability to produce high quality food-grade sorghums with marketable traits for specific food products.

IMPACT: 2006-10-01 TO 2007-09-30 Contributed new knowledge about the influence of environment and genetics on quality of food-grade grain sorghum. This will help the specialty sorghum grain market select proper environments and hybrids to be used for specific end-uses.

PUBLICATION INFORMATION: 2006-10-01 TO 2007-09-30
Garcia Centeno, L., Tellez Obregon, O. and Mason, S.C. 2007. Nitrogen use efficiency of 16 sorghum lines in Nicaragua (in Spanish). La Calera 8: 39-48.

PROJECT CONTACT INFORMATION
NAME: Mason, S. C.
PHONE: 402 472-1523
FAX: 402 472-7904