Netherlands: Sorghum cultivation offers perspective, but yield must be higher

Trials are being conducted with the cultivation of sorghum in a number of places. This is done, for example, in the 'Fruitful Cycle Overijssel' and 'Sorghum cultivation in the Frisian peat meadow' projects. The advantage of sorghum is that, thanks to a better root system, the crop needs less moisture and therefore requires a lower nitrogen fertilization than silage maize. However, the yield is still too low compared to silage maize. Both silage maize and sorghum are originally tropical crops. However, thanks to breeding, silage maize has an advantage over sorghum. There are already more sorgum varieties on the market that are better adapted to the Dutch conditions, but do well. The advantage of sorghum is that it can be sown later than silage maize thanks to a better developed root system. As a result, the crop needs less moisture and lower nitrogen fertilization. The protein percentage of sorghum is also higher than that of corn. Trials show that sorghum can also be grown on all ...