The agronomic characteristics, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and total soluble and structural carbohydrates contents of five hybrid sorghum (AG-2002, AG-2005E, AGX-212, AGX-213 e AGX-215), cultivated under different fertilization levels, were evaluated. A randomized blocks design, in a 5 x 4 factorial scheme, with four replicates, was used. The qualitative factors means were analyzed by means of Tukey test at 5 and 1% of probability. The evaluated hybrids showed different proportions of stem (29.01 to 53.38%), leaves (16.70 to 22.64%) and panicle (29.91 to 52.43%), where stem and panicle were highly correlated with height, 0.79** and -0,82**, respectively. Dry matter content of whole plant was strongly affected by stem and panicle proportion, where the panicle showed higher DM contents (48.79 to 56,80%) and stem, the smaller (18.86 to 22.54%). The increase in the fertilization levels provided increment in the panicle production, that decreased stem+leaves/panicle proportions and increased panicle proportion and DM content of whole plant. The total soluble carbohydrates contents, in dry matter basis, varied among evaluated hybrids (12.24 to 19.80%) and increased as the fertilization levels increased. The evaluated hybrids showed significant differences among the NDF (57.38 to 62.30), ADF (25.29 to 31.56%), hemicellulose (28.56 to 33.87%), cellulose (19.20 to 24.34%) and lignin (6.04 a 6.51%) contents. The NDF and hemicellulose contents decreased as the fertilization levels increased.
agronomic characteristics; forage; forage sorghum
