Comparative analyses of production performance and feeding quality of sweet sorghum and grain sorghum grown in the Wuwei area

Four sweet and four grain sorghum varieties were introduced and comparatively assessed for their production performance and feeding value in Gulang County, Wuwei City, central Gansu Province, with the aim of selecting sorghum varieties with strong adaptability and high feeding value, most suitable for promotion in this region. Our experimental results showed that sweet sorghum performs best in plant height, grass yield, and sugar Brix, and grain sorghum yields significantly higher crude protein, crude fat, total fatty acids, and relative feeding quality than sweet sorghum. Among the eight sorghum varieties tested, ‘Bailu 18’ and ‘Jitianza 5’ exhibited advantages of good adaptability and high grass yield, with respective dry grass yields reaching 40557.12 and 38860.53 kg·ha⁻¹. In addition to providing high crude protein (CP), crude fat (EE), and total fatty acid (FA) contents, the relative feeding quality of ‘Pingshi 10’ and ‘Pingza 8’ was also highest among the 8 tested varieties, with respective values of 189.39 and 203.01. The yield, sugar brix, and nutritional value factors affecting the feeding quality of each variety were calculated using membership functions. Among the eight tested varieties, the three varieties with the highest membership function values were ‘Jitianza 5’‘Pingshi 10’ and ‘Pingza 8’ with values of 0.634, 0.617, and 0.560, respectively. Field performance and comprehensive analyses suggest that ‘Jitianza 5’‘Pingshi 10’ ‘Pingza 8’ and ‘Bailu 18’ are most suitable for promotion and planting in this region and areas with similar natural conditions.