How to Select Sorghum Seeds? A Detailed Guide to Seedling Cultivation Methods

From the perspective of food crops, friends in most regions may be more familiar withwheatand rice, butsorghumrice can also serve as food grain. Before planting sorghum, you first need to select good seeds. Let's learn about it together below.

1. How to select sorghum seeds?

(1) Consider the variety's maturity period

In areas with a long frost-free period, late-maturing varieties can be selected; in areas with a short frost-free period, early-maturing varieties can be selected.

(2) Consider the product's use

For brewing wine or vinegar, red-grain varieties with highstarchcontent and relatively high tannin content (around 1%) should be selected; for food or feed use, varieties with high protein and lysine content and low tannin content (≤0.4%) should be selected; for energy use, sweet sorghum varieties with high sugar content in the stalks should be selected; for greenfeeduse, grass-type sorghum varieties should be selected.

(3) Consider the variety's high and stable yield

Under otherwise similar conditions, varieties with large yield potential should be selected as much as possible. At the same time, varieties with strong disease resistance, insect resistance and stress resistance should be selected to ensure stable yield. (Source: China Agriculture Press)

2. What are the sorghum seedling cultivation methods?

1. Select good varieties

To cultivate strong seedlings, you must first select good varieties, choosing according to the local planting environment, soil and temperature. For example, in areas with lower altitude, varieties with short plants, high first-season yield and strong ratooning ability should be selected, such as Hongyingzi and Qingkeyang. If double harvest is not used and no ratooning is kept, varieties with strong stress resistance can also be selected, while for brewing wine, Hongyingzi and Qingkeyang varieties are preferred.

2. Choose the seedling site

Sorghum has a well-developed root system and extremely strong adaptability to soil, so it has low soil requirements and can tolerate saline-alkali and poor soil. However, in order to cultivate strong seedlings, the soil of the seedling site should be sandy loam with loose texture, deep soil layer and rich organic matter. Moreover, seedlings are relatively sensitive to saline-alkali, so it is not suitable to raise seedlings on saline-alkali land; acidic soil should be properly improved before planting.

3.Seed treatment

One week before sowing, the seeds should first be screened to eliminate small grains, shriveled grains and diseased grains, and select large, plump seeds as production seeds. On a sunny day, expose the selected seeds to the sun for 2-3 days to increase their germination rate. Before sowing, dress the seeds with chemicals to prevent diseases, deficiency symptoms and underground pests.

4. Sow at the right time

Sowing at the right time is the prerequisite for improving seedling germination, uniform seedlings and strong seedlings. Sorghum is not tolerant of low temperatures during germination. If sown too early, germination will be poor, and it is highly susceptible to disease, affecting yield; if sown too late, it will affect the growth period. When sowing, the soil moisture content is best at about 20%. Late-maturing varieties should be sown early at the right time, and early-maturing varieties should be sown late at the right time. Sow reasonably and control density. Generally, the plant-row spacing is about 15×20 cm, the sowing depth is best at 3-5 cm, and the soil cover is 2-3 cm.

5. Seedling stage management

After sowing, cover with plastic film for heat-preserving seedling cultivation. When seedlings grow to 3-4 leaves, thin them once; when they have 5-6 true leaves, finalize the seedlings. When finalizing seedlings, keep strong seedlings and remove weak seedlings and mixed plants. During the seedling stage, 2-3 cultivations should also be carried out: the first when finalizing seedlings, the first 10-15 days after finalizing seedlings, and the third before the jointing stage. Cultivation can be combined with weeding and topdressing so that the seedlings grow strong and robust. The water requirement of sorghum at the seedling stage is 10% of the water requirement of the entire growth period, so during this period attention should be paid to changes in moisture, and it should not be too much or too little.

In summary, do you have a preliminary understanding of how to plant sorghum? Everyone is welcome to continue leaving comments and sharing your doubts, and we will answer and learn together.

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