Effect of Nitrogen Fertilization on Growth and Forage Yield of Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.] under Takhar AgroEcological Conditions

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out at Bagh-e-Zakhera research station, Takhar province of Afghanistan during 2020 to assess the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization on growth and forage yield of sorghum under Takhar agro-ecological conditions. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design, using 4 replications. There were four levels of nitrogen N1 (control), N2 (50 kg N ha-1 ), N3 (75 kg N ha-1 ), and N4 (100 kg N ha-1 ). The result of this research indicated that N fertilization significantly increased all growth parameters and forage yield of sorghum over control. Among the different levels of N fertilizer, application of N4 significantly enhanced the growth parameters such as plant height (245.26 cm), number of leaves (10.15 plant-1 ), leaf area (3536.80 cm2 hill1 ), dry matter accumulation (240.10 g plant-1 ) at 90 days after sowing. Forage yield was significantly enhanced with increase in level of N fertilization and application of N4 resulted in the production of highest forage yield (6217.55 kg ha-1 ). Whereas, no significant differences were detected with N4 and N3 treatments for stover yield. The crop growth rate of sorghum was significantly influenced by N fertilization, and the highest value for crop growth rate (69.09 g plant-1 day-1 ) was obtained with N4 treatment. From the results of this study, it was concluded that the growth and forage yield of sorghum can be enhanced with the application of 100kg of N ha-1 under agro-ecological conditions of Takhar province of Afghanistan.