Chemical composition, kinetics of degradation, and digestibility of forage of different purpose sorghum cultivars

The aim of the study was to identify suitability of different purpose sorghum cultivars for silage production and for green chopping, at the first and second season, based on the chemical composition and degradation kinetics. The experiment was based on a randomized block design with four replicates, with sowing in the months of November and March, as the first and second season, respectively. The trial was conducted at the Plant Production Sector of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rondonia, Colorado do Oeste campus, and chemical analyses were performed at the Animal Nutrition Laboratory of the Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiaba campus. The treatments comprised six sorghum hybrids of different purposes (BRS 308 and BRS 310, grain sorghum; BRS 655 and BRS 610, forage sorghum; BRS 506 and CMSXS 647, sweet sorghum). The chemical composition, digestibility, and kinetic parameters were evaluated. At the first season, there was a higher digestibility (P < 0.0001) for sweet sorghum BRS 506, while for the second season, both grain sorghum BRS 308 and sweet sorghum cultivars BRS 506 and CMSXS 647 presented higher digestibility (P = 0.0005). Considering the nutritional value, all sorghum cultivars have the potential to produce silage, or to be used as green chop, at the first and second season.