On September 26, 2017, KSG Agro Holding, SPO Ukrsorgo, the Institute of Animal Husbandry of the National Academy of Sciences jointly held a hands-on scientific seminar “Sorghum of the Dnepropetrovsk region” in the village of Zatyshne located in Krinichansky district of Dnepropetrovsk region.
Sorghum’s main advantages and the experience of its cultivation under the conditions of the Dnepropetrovsk region, the technology of planting and harvesting this crop, the issues of plant protection products and the use of machinery in planting and harvesting sorghum: these were the main topics of the hands-on scientific seminar “Sorghum of the Dnepropetrovsk region”. The event was organized by KSG Agro AgriHolding, LLC SPO UkrSorgo, and the Institute of Animal Husbandry of the NAAS and Department of Agri-Industrial Development of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional State Administration. More than 120 seminar participants checked out on sorghum crops and what modern technology can do now.
“If before, sorghum was considered mainly as an agricultural crop for the needs of own animal husbandry, now agrarians rely on it both to meet domestic demand and for export,” says Yaroslav Bardin, general director at LLC Ukrsorgo. “From the export point of view, the Chinese market looks like the most promising. China imports large amounts of sugar sorghum, both for feed and for producing alternative fuels, such as bioethanol”.
According to Mr. Bardin, a much higher yield of starch (70-74%) is possible with sorghum than, for example, with corn (67-72%). And in sugar sorghum – a complex of sugars in found in the juice of stems, so we have a greater yield of alcohol. “This culture is the future of bioethanol production. If you also use grain in addition to stems for the production of bioethanol, you can get up to 7 thousand liters / ha per year. In addition, sorghum can grow in the steppe and forest-steppe zone, giving quite high yields, “- said the agrarian.
Sergei Kasyanov, the Chairman of the Board at KSG Agro, also noted the main advantage of sorghum: unpretentiousness to moisture, which is especially important in the Dnepropetrovsk region, which partly belongs to the zone of risky farming.
“Sorghum is an excellent alternative to many traditional cultures. It is no coincidence that it ranks 4th in the world after wheat, maize and rice by volume of cultivation. For example, according to the energy value, the grain and the green mass of sorghum are in no way inferior to corn, and even exceed the amount of protein,” – said the Chairman of the Board at KSG Agro”. It is important that sorghum is less hygrophilous and more drought-resistant than maize. For example, it needs half the moisture vs corn. Expanding the crops of sorghum, we get a valuable forage crop for the cultivation of pigs”.
Sergei Kasyanov noted that the current season, in partnership with the NGO UkrSergo, KSG Agro sowed 617 hectares of sorghum and plans to expand the sown areas in the future. It is a grain sorghum: white for the production of cereals and red for mixed fodders. Harvesting began late September.
The seminar participants focused on sorghum’s main advantages: adaptation and survival in arid climates, falling into anabiosis in the absence of moisture, high growth rate (up to 15 cm per day) in case of precipitation, excellent quality in feeding animals – cattle, pigs and chickens.