Forage quality of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) as influenced by irrigation, nitrogen levels and harvesting stage

The field experiment was carried out at Forage Research Farm, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during summer 2008 to study the effect of scheduling of last irrigation, levels of nitrogen and harvesting stage on the quality of forage sorghum. The application of last irrigation at 7 days before harvest recorded significantly higher dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, mineral matter and NFE production over last irrigation at 14 and 21 days before harvest. Moreover, quality of sorghum was significantly improved with the application of nitrogen up to 125% of the recommended doses. The study revealed that significantly higher dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, mineral matter and NFE productions were obtained with the harvesting of crop at 100 days after sowing.