Identifying the optimal harvest stage for forage and biogas production from sweet sorghum under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions
Biomass and Bioenergy, cilt.217, 2027 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 217
- Basım Tarihi: 2027
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.biombioe.2026.109926
- Dergi Adı: Biomass and Bioenergy
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, Compendex, Environment Index, Geobase, INSPEC, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Biogas, Forage, Harvest, Maturity, Mediterranean, Sweet sorghum
- Çukurova Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Sweet sorghum is a multipurpose crop with high potential for both bioenergy and forage production. Since biomass digestibility and nutritive value vary considerably with maturity, identifying the optimum harvest stage is essential for sustainable biomass utilization. Unlike previous studies that primarily defined harvest timing according to days after planting, this study evaluated harvest maturity using six physiologically defined maturity stages, from booting (BG) to physiological maturity (PM), based on biomass composition, biomass yield, and methane productivity under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions. Over two years, the dry matter yield (DMY) ranged from 17.24 to 27.54 t ha−1, with highest value at hard dough (HD) stage. However, there were no significant differences between milk (MK), soft dough (SD), HD, and PM stages. Most desirable forage quality traits, including higher dry matter digestibility (DDM) and relative feed value (RFV), together with lower ADF, NDF, and CF contents, were optimized between the MK and HD stages, indicating these stages as the most suitable harvest period for balancing biomass yield and forage quality. Plant maturation reduced theoretical specific methane yield (SMY) but significantly increased theoretical methane hectare yield (MHY), which ranged from 6297.9 to 10119.2 Nm3 ha−1, owing to improved biomass productivity. The post-flowering stages (MK, SD, HD, and PM) optimized MHY, while MHY was more strongly correlated with DMY (r = 0.86) than with SMY (r = 0.31). Overall, sweet sorghum was a promising dual-purpose crop, with post-flowering harvests providing the best compromise between forage quality, biomass productivity, and methane production under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions.