Agronomic Factors Affecting the Potential of Sorghum as a Feedstock for Bioethanol Production in the Kanto Region, Japan

Abstract

Abstract:In the Kanto region in Japan, the possibilities of running a bio-ethanol plant from rice straw has been assessed and sorghum production has been considered as a necessary part of the system. Two field experiments were conducted in 2012 and 2013 at the NARO-Agricultural Research Center in Tsukuba, Ibaraki to estimate yielding ability of sorghum in the Kanto region. Two cultivars of sweet sorghum and one of grain sorghum were sown using a pneumatic seeder. Above-ground dry matter (DM) yield ranged from 1.03 to 1.82 kg m −2 for the sorgo type cultivars and from 0.70 to 1.18 kg m −2 for the grain type cultivar. The observed yields were lower than the simulated potential yields, i.e., 1.61 to 2.66 kg m −2 , indicating that biomass production was restricted in this study. Stem brix values for the sweet sorghum cultivars were generally low (3.3-16.2%) compared with the values reported in the literature. It appears that there is still room to improve the field management of sorghum to minimize the gap between the potential and actual production observed in these experiments.

EVALUASI KANDUNGAN BRIX PADA BATANG TANAMAN PLASMA NUTFAH SORGUM (Sorghum bicolor L. (Moench)) Brix Content Evaluation of Sorghum Stem Germplasm (Sorghum bicolor L. (Moench))

“…Hasil evaluasi kandungan brix pada 219 aksesi plasma nutfah sorgum pada batang bagian bawah, tengah, dan atas disajikan pada Tabel 1. Nilai kisaran kandungan brix dalam penelitian ini lebih lebar (0,0 -15,1%) dibanding dengan hasil penelitian Pabendon et al (2012) yang mendapatkan nilai kisaran kandungan brix 7,67 -12,56%, sedangkan Atokple et al (2014) dalam penelitian dari berbagai sumber plasma nutfah sorgum mendapatkan kisaran brix 6,2-21,4 %, dan kisaran 3,3-16,2% dalam batang sorgum biji dan sorgum manis (Ishikawa et al, 2017). Akumulasi gula (sukrosa, glukosa, dan fruktosa) di dalam batang sorgum terjadi setelah keluar malai/ anthesis (Kawahigashi et al, 2013).…”

Grain yield, nutritional, polyphenols and antioxidant capacity in accessions of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)

“…Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is the fifth most important cereal after corn, rice, wheat, and barley because of its multipurpose (food, forage, bioethanol, and other industrial uses) and has an economic importance (Kanbar et al, 2021). This crop has been used for a long time as a staple food in arid and semi-arid 2 areas prone to drought (Ishikawa et al, 2017) as it is resistant to biotic and abiotic stress (Emendack et al, 2021). In addition, due to its high yield, it can contribute to the food supply for the growing world population, especially as an option to produce food for celiac patients (Pontieri et al, 2013).…”