INFLUENCE OF THE SEEDING RATE ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF SUDAN GRASS IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE DRY-STEPPE ZONE OF THE LOWER VOLGA REGION

To increase the livestock productivity, it is important to increase feed production, while expanding the areas under drought-resistant multi-grained crops that have high feed values and productivity, as well as the ability to grow quickly after mowing. One crop oа this kind is Sudan grass. But, despite all its advantages, its yield in the conditions of the Volgograd region remains at a low level, so it is necessary to improve the technology of its cultivation. The paper reflects the results of the five-year research on the ways to increase the yield of green mass of Sudan grass by determining the optimal seeding rate. The experiments were carried out on chestnut soils in the conditions of JSC “Agrofirma “Vostok” of the Nikolaevsk district of the Volgograd region. Three seeding rates were studied: 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mln germinable seeds per hectare. The object of research was the Yulia variety. The highest percentage of field germination in all years of research was observed in the variant with a seeding rate of 1.0 million/ha – 85.3%. At the same time, the reverse dynamics was observed in the contamination of the Sudan grass crops, and when the crops were thickened, a decrease in the number and weight of weeds was observed. The largest part of the Sudan grass crop is formed in the first mowing and ranges from 60.3% at a seeding rate of 1.0 million tons of germinable seeds/ha to 63.3% at the 1.5 mln tons of germinable seeds/ha of total productivity. The study of the influence of different seeding rates on the productivity of Sudan grass showed the advantage of a seeding rate of 1.5 mln tons of germinable seeds/ha. This option ensured an increase compared to a seeding rate of 2.0 mln germinating seeds/ha in total for three mowing of 4.3 t/ha at a seeding rate of 1.0 million. An increase in the seeding rate to 2.0 million germinable seeds/ha reduced the yield by 2.2 t/ha as compared with a normative rate of 1.5 mln germinable seeds/ha.