Grain setting in some sorghum varieties less this year due to low temperatures in the Netherlands

This year was a relatively cool growing season for the heat-loving sorghum, which slowed down crop development. This was reinforced by the heavy rain in June. Due to the delayed development of sorghum on a number of plots, flowering usually only started at the end of August and even in September. Nights too cold In these months the night temperatures sometimes drop below the critical temperature of 12 degrees. The stamens have trouble producing a lot of pollen at these low temperatures (Photo 3). At 12 degrees, the pollen of many sorghum varieties grown in the Netherlands is not germinable and the female flower remains unfertilized. The panicle shows the white female bloom (Photo 1) and later incomplete grain setting on the panicle (Photo 2). Sorghum flowers and ripens in the panicle from top to bottom. It is therefore possible that there are still grains at the top, if the night temperatures here were still high enough. And that downwards, so later in time, no more grains are ...