PRODUCTIVITY OF SWEET SORGHUM DEPENDING ON SORTS FEATURES AND DIFFERENT OF SEED RATES IN NATIVE IRRIGATION CONDITIONS OF THE SOUTHERN UKRAINE

Sowing density has a significant effect on the growth and development of plants, and affects the size of the crop. The optimum density of plants promotes the supply of nutrients, moisture, plant illumination, and the formation of maximum productivity at the same time. The aim of our research was to study the influence of seed rates on the yield of green mass, the content of sugars in the juice of stems and the yield of conditioned sugar of varieties and hybrids of sweet sorghum in conditions of the Southern Steppe of Ukraine with natural irrigation. The subject of research is the processes of growth and development of sweet sorghum under the influence of the investigated factors. Studied medium-grade varieties and hybrids of sorghum sugar 100D, Favorit, Honey, Triticum at sowing rates: 100, 130, 160 thousand units of seeds per hectare. In the process of performing our work, field, laboratory, statistical and calculationcomparative methods of research were used. The article presents the productivity of plant varieties and hybrids of sweet sorghum depending on the seed rates and varietal characteristics in non-irrigated conditions of the South of Ukraine. It has been established that the highest productivity of plants is provided for the seed rate 130 thousand seeds per hectare, at the same time, the maximum yield of green mass (56.9 t per hectare) was obtained in the Favorit variety. The maximum share of total sugars (20%) in juice of stems and the yield of sugars from 1 hectare (10.99 tons) was obtained from the Honey hybrid, which is 4.25% and 2.2 tons more than the obtained varieties of Favorit 15.85% and 8.97 tons. In the Southern Steppe region of Ukraine without additional costs for irrigation it can be obtained from 1 hectare of sweet sorghum from 45.0 to 58.0 tons of green mass, with the conditional yield of total sugars from 7.1 to 11.4 tons. The results of this study can be used for production purposes of agricultural enterprises for the processing of green mass of sorghum to bioethanol and glucose-fructose syrup