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Investigating irrigation management in sorghum - Breeza 2015

2015

Important note

The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (July 2017) and may not be accurate, current or complete. The State of New South Wales (including the NSW Department of Industry), the author and the publisher take no responsibility, and will accept no liability, for the accuracy, currency, reliability or correctness of any information included in the document (including material provided by third parties). Readers should make their own inquiries and rely on their own advice when making decisions related to material contained in this publication. The product trade names in this publication are supplied on the understanding that no preference between equivalent products is intended and that the inclusion of a product name does not imply endorsement by the department over any equivalent product from another manufacturer.

Research organisation
Funding sources
Department of Primary Industries NSW
<abbr title='Grains Research and Development Corporation'>GRDC</abbr> <abbr title='Department of Primary Industries (New South Wales)'>DPI NSW</abbr>

Trial details

Researcher(s) Jon Baird (NSW DPI)
Loretta Serafin (NSW DPI)
Year(s) 2015
Contributor Department of Primary Industries NSW
Trial location(s) Gunnedah, NSW
Further information View external link
Investigating irrigation management in sorghum - Breeza 2015 locations
Aims

To improve knowledge around the ability of sorghum to efficiently use applied irrigation water. 

Key messages
  • Hybrid choice and plant population had a significant impact on the yield of sorghum with irrigation. MR Buster yielded significantly higher than the other hybrids evaluated, while the higher population rates of 100,000 and 150,000 plants/ha yielded higher compared with the lower planting rates.
  • The development and yield potential of the late season heads was compromised, and therefore the later developing sorghum did not take full advantage of the greater soil moisture of the intensive irrigation rate.

Conclusions

The experiment showed there are considerable productivity gains to be made by growers by selecting the right hybrid and plant population when irrigating sorghum. Irrigation management can significantly influence the growth of sorghum hybrids, affecting plant height, and grain development. Population did have an effect on yield during the trial with the higher planting populations of 100,000 & 150,000 plant/ha resulting in significantly higher yields than the 50,000 & 75,000 plants/ha. The higher plant numbers took advantage of the high plant available water from the irrigation treatments. 

Lead research organisation Department of Primary Industries NSW
Host research organisation N/A
Trial funding source GRDC DAN00181
Trial funding source DPI NSW
Related program Northern region high yielding cereal agronomy - NSW
Acknowledgments

This research was jointly funded by GRDC and NSW DPI under project DAN00181: Northern Region high yielding cereal agronomy - NSW. Thanks to Tim Grant, Nicole Carrigan, Peter Perfrement and Mark Hellyer for technical assistance.
Other trial partners Co-operator: NSW DPI Breeza Research Station
Download the trial report to view additional trial information

Method

Crop type Cereal (Grain): Sorghum
Treatment type(s)
  • Crop : Variety
  • Sowing : Row Spacing
Trial type Experimental
Trial design Replicated

Gunnedah 2015

Sow rate or Target density 50,000 plants/ha; 75,000 plants/ha; 100,000 plants/ha; 150,000 plants/ha
Sowing machinery

Monosem precision planter on 1 m row spacing
Sow date 19 January 2015
Harvest date 9 June 2015
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified
Other trial notes

Treatments

Hybrids:

  • MR 43
  • 85G33
  • MR Buster
  • MR Scorpio

Population:

  • 50,000 plants/ha
  • 75,000 plants/ha
  • 100,000 plants/ha
  • 150,000 plants/ha

Irrigation:

  • I-2 – full irrigation strategy, refill set at a 50mm soil water deficit
  • I-1 – two in-crop waters: at 7-leaf stage and at head emergence
  • I-0 – rain fed
Download the trial report to view additional method/treatment information

Download results

Trial results Hybrid impact on tiller and heads

# Variety
 Tillers (no./m2) Heads per plant (heads/plant) Tillers (tillers/plant)
1 █  G33 14.6484 1.1808 1.58
2 █ MR Buster 15.1406 1.11391 1.55
3 █ MR Scorpio 13.3359 1.2568 1.67
4 █ MR43 13.5859 1.18248 1.58

Heads per plant heads/plant

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Tillers no./m2

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Tillers tillers/plant

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Trial results Population impact on tillers and heads

# Treatment 1
Tillers (no./m2) Heads per plant (heads/plant) Tillers (tillers/plant)
1 █ 50,000 plants/ha 12.6406 1.45073 2.09584
2 █ 75,000 plants/ha 13.6016 1.20534 1.69579
3 █ 100,000 plants/ha 14.5391 1.08141 1.38827
4 █ 150,000 plants/ha 15.9297 0.996504 1.18821

Heads per plant heads/plant

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Tillers no./m2

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Tillers tillers/plant

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Trial results Irrigation impact on tillers and heads

# Treatment 1
Tillers (no./m2) Heads per plant (heads/plant) Tillers (tillers/plant)
1 █ Irrigation I-0 13.9375 1.10361 1.57258
2 █ Irrigation I-1 14.0781 1.24333 1.5877
3 █ Irrigation I-2 14.4844 1.2235 1.61436

Heads per plant heads/plant

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Tillers no./m2

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Tillers tillers/plant

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Trial results Hybrid effect on sorghum height and head length

# Variety
 Head length (cm) Plant height (cm)
1 █  G33 30.4643 106.714
2 █ MR Buster 28.125 109
3 █ MR Scorpio 29.6429 114.893
4 █ MR43 31.3571 113.875

Head length cm

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Plant height cm

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Trial results Population impact on sorghum height and head length

# Treatment 1
Head length (cm) Plant height (cm)
1 █ 50,000 plants/ha 30.8036 111.286
2 █ 75,000 plants/ha 30.25 111.393
3 █ 100,000 plants/ha 29.5714 110.089
4 █ 150,000 plants/ha 28.9643 111.714

Head length cm

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Plant height cm

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Trial results Irrigation impact on sorghum height and head length

# Treatment 1
Head length (cm) Plant height (cm)
1 █ Irrigation I-0 28.9583 103.146
2 █ Irrigation I-1 30.5469 115.094
3 █ Irrigation I-2 30.6562 119.109

Head length cm

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Plant height cm

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Trial results Treatment yield

# Variety
 Treatment 1
Treatment 2
Grain yield (t/ha)
1 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-0 █ 50,000 plants/ha 5.56685
2 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-0 █ 50,000 plants/ha 5.69627
3 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-0 █ 50,000 plants/ha 5.17811
4 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-0 █ 50,000 plants/ha 4.70435
5 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-0 █ 75,000 plants/ha 5.67319
6 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-0 █ 75,000 plants/ha 6.31708
7 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-0 █ 75,000 plants/ha 6.04232
8 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-0 █ 75,000 plants/ha 5.83874
9 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-0 █ 100,000 plants/ha 5.06413
10 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-0 █ 100,000 plants/ha 6.0574
11 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-0 █ 100,000 plants/ha 5.70124
12 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-0 █ 100,000 plants/ha 6.00183
13 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-0 █ 150,000 plants/ha 6.10951
14 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-0 █ 150,000 plants/ha 6.67786
15 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-0 █ 150,000 plants/ha 6.45534
16 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-0 █ 150,000 plants/ha 6.25167
17 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-1 █ 50,000 plants/ha 5.05067
18 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-1 █ 50,000 plants/ha 5.51092
19 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-1 █ 50,000 plants/ha 5.15649
20 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-1 █ 50,000 plants/ha 5.30423
21 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-1 █ 75,000 plants/ha 5.70932
22 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-1 █ 75,000 plants/ha 6.70271
23 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-1 █ 75,000 plants/ha 5.21494
24 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-1 █ 75,000 plants/ha 5.14869
25 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-1 █ 100,000 plants/ha 6.96373
26 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-1 █ 100,000 plants/ha 7.03977
27 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-1 █ 100,000 plants/ha 6.99051
28 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-1 █ 100,000 plants/ha 6.81025
29 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-1 █ 150,000 plants/ha 6.51274
30 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-1 █ 150,000 plants/ha 6.69107
31 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-1 █ 150,000 plants/ha 7.24594
32 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-1 █ 150,000 plants/ha 7.03037
33 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-2 █ 50,000 plants/ha 4.89809
34 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-2 █ 50,000 plants/ha 6.41017
35 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-2 █ 50,000 plants/ha 4.84123
36 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-2 █ 50,000 plants/ha 5.63045
37 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-2 █ 75,000 plants/ha 4.74686
38 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-2 █ 75,000 plants/ha 5.77946
39 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-2 █ 75,000 plants/ha 5.41412
40 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-2 █ 75,000 plants/ha 5.03546
41 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-2 █ 100,000 plants/ha 5.87215
42 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-2 █ 100,000 plants/ha 6.7343
43 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-2 █ 100,000 plants/ha 5.29743
44 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-2 █ 100,000 plants/ha 4.7706
45 █  G33 █ Irrigation I-2 █ 150,000 plants/ha 5.59532
46 █ MR Buster █ Irrigation I-2 █ 150,000 plants/ha 6.75653
47 █ MR Scorpio █ Irrigation I-2 █ 150,000 plants/ha 6.37811
48 █ MR43 █ Irrigation I-2 █ 150,000 plants/ha 5.89805

Grain yield t/ha

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Trial results Population effect on yield

# Treatment 1
Grain yield (t/ha)
1 █ 50,000 plants/ha 5.3229
2 █ 75,000 plants/ha 5.68275
3 █ 100,000 plants/ha 6.05112
4 █ 150,000 plants/ha 6.45355

Grain yield t/ha

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Trial results Hybrid effect on yield

# Variety
 Grain yield (t/ha)
1 █  G33 5.64067
2 █ MR Buster 6.33913
3 █ MR Scorpio 5.82888
4 █ MR43 5.70164

Grain yield t/ha

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Trial results Irrigation effect on yield

# Treatment 1
Grain yield (t/ha)
1 █ Irrigation I-0 5.83349
2 █ Irrigation I-1 6.19265
3 █ Irrigation I-2 5.62865

Grain yield t/ha

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Trial results IWUI and GPWUI

# Treatment 1
Treatment 2
Irrigation water use index (yield/applied water) Gross production water use index (yield/total water available)
1 █ Irrigation I-0 █ 100,000 plants/ha - 19.2212
2 █ Irrigation I-0 █ 150,000 plants/ha - 21.8757
3 █ Irrigation I-1 █ 100,000 plants/ha 53.302 17.42
4 █ Irrigation I-1 █ 150,000 plants/ha 57.0797 19.3846
5 █ Irrigation I-2 █ 100,000 plants/ha 28.54 12.9324
6 █ Irrigation I-2 █ 150,000 plants/ha 34.9 15.2503

Gross production water use index yield/total water available

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Irrigation water use index yield/applied water

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Observed trial site soil information
Trial site soil testing
Not specified
Soil conditions
Trial site Soil texture
Gunnedah, NSW Not specified
Derived trial site soil information
Australian Soil Classification Source: ASRIS
Trial site Soil order
Gunnedah, NSW Sodosol
Soil Moisture Source: BOM/ANU
Average amount of water stored in the soil profile during the year, estimated by the OzWALD model-data fusion system.
Year Gunnedah NSW
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Climate

Derived climate information

No observed climate data available for this trial.
Derived climate data is determined from trial site location and national weather sources.

Gunnedah NSW

NOTE: Exact trial site locality unknown - Climate data may not be accurate
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Some data on this site is sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology

SILO weather estimates sourced from https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/silo/
Jeffrey, S.J., Carter, J.O., Moodie, K.B. and Beswick, A.R. (2001). Using spatial interpolation to construct a comprehensive archive of Australian climate data , Environmental Modelling and Software, Vol 16/4, pp 309-330. DOI: 10.1016/S1364-8152(01)00008-1.

Trial report and links

2015 trial report



Trial last modified: 16-07-2019 14:42pm AEST