THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT IRRIGATION WATER LEVELS ON THE BAGASSE YIELD AND SILAGE QUALITY PROPERTIES OF SWEET SORGUM IN ÇUKURUVA CONDITION

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different irrigation water levels (I100, I75, I50, I25) on the bagasse yield and silage quality properties. The experiment was conducted in Çukurova University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Structures and Irrigation, in 2017 and randomized blocks design (RBD) with 3 replications. Harvest was performed between milk and soft dough stages. In addition, whole plant after the sap of the plant , whose leaves and spike were taken for ethanol production, the remaining baggase was ensiled and silage quality attributes were also determined. As the results of the research, it was determined that different irrigation water levels affect the bagasse yield and the yield varied between 6890 and 5050 kg da-1, and the yield decreased in paralel with the amount of water. Besides it has been determined that different irrigation water levels have statistically significant effect on neutral detergent lignin (ADL), and other properties were not statistically significant. In addition, many silage quality parameters such as; acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL) concentrations, crude protein (CP) ratio, and relative feed value (RFV) were ranged from 39.79 to 43.32%, from 6.89 to 9.36%, from 2.71 to 3.95%, and from 79.4 to 84.9, respectively. It is concluded that the silages made of extracted sweet sorghum stems which were grown the 2nd production conditions in Çukurova region can be considered as roughage.