Harvesting five times a year

By Our Agriculture Correspondent

SCIENTISTS AT the department of Forage Crops of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, have developed a high yielding fodder sorghum that can be harvested five times in a year. The tall sorghum with thin stem has been released recently for commercial cultivation by the farmers as ``Fodder Sorghum CO (FS) 29''.

A derivative of the cross between TNS 30 and S. sudanense, the new variety has profuse tillering (10 to 15 tillers), and this highly leafy type of fodder has good palatability. It has a yield potential of 170 tonnes of green fodder per hectare in five cuts in a year. The fodder has a high crude protein content of 8.41 per cent, and its digestible dry matter and in vitro digestible dry matter are also high, according to the scientists.

This high yielding fodder sorghum can be harvested once in 65 to 75 days. It can be raised throughout the year. It has been found to be suitable for raising throughout Tamil Nadu under irrigated conditions. It did well in all the adaptive research trials and in all India trials.

It proved its superiority over the other fodder sorghum CO 27, released by TNAU in 1986. CO 27 variety has a green fodder yield of 40 tonnes per hectare in 65 to 70 days, and in favourable conditions a maximum of 3 harvests can be had with this variety.

This multi-cut variety with five harvests in a year will go a long way in meeting the demands of dairy farmers. It has more crude protein than CO 27, and its digestible dry matter and in vitro digestible dry matter are also higher than those of CO 27, according to the scientists. The tall variety grows to a height of 220 to 250 cm, and it is free from all major diseases in field conditions. Shoot fly incidence was noticed up to 10 to 15 per cent, but since it is green fodder crop no plant protection chemical should be sprayed.

It can be grown in all types of soils endowed with good drainage. It does not do well in heavy clay and in waterlogged conditions. A seed rate of 12.5 kg is recommended to cover a hectare.

The seeds should be sown on both sides of the ridges formed 30 cm apart. The spacing within the rows should be maintained at 10 to 15 cm from plant to plant.

A basal dressing of 30 kg nitrogen, 40 kg phosphorus and 20 kg potash should be given per hectare, and the crop should be top dressed with 30 kg nitrogen on the 25 th or 30 th day after sowing. After each cutting, the basal and top dressing schedule should be repeated. The field must be weeded after 25 days of sowing, and irrigated once in a week or ten days depending on the soil moisture conditions.

The first cutting should be taken when the crop is 65 to 70 days old, and subsequent ratoon can be cut once in 60 to 65 days depending on the flowering.

It can be fed to cattle as green fodder and can also be ensiled, according to the scientists.

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