Characterization of Biomass Sorghum Cultivars Aiming to Generate Energy for the North Region of Mato Grosso, Brazil

Abstract

Biomass sorghum has high lignocellulosic biomass production, emerging as a cultivation alternative for renewable energy production. The objective of this study was to characterize biomass sorghum cultivars aiming to generate energy for the north of Mato Grosso. To this end, an experiment in the randomized block design with three replications, consisting of 36 sorghum genotypes (34 biomass and two forage) was implanted in 12/04/2014 in Sinop/Mato Grosso. The evaluated characteristics were: flowering, plants height, lodged plants, finishing, plants population, green mass production, dry matter production, dry matter percentage and humidity. Data were subjected to analysis of variance, and the averages of the genotypes were grouped by the Scott-Knott test. Forage materials flourished on average after 77 days, whereas the biomass genotypes flourished from 101 to 130 days. While the best forage genotype (Volumax) produced 11.6 t ha-1 dry matter, 15 genotypes of sorghum biomass produced on average 24 t, each one. Demonstrating being a potential for cultivating in the region. The dry matter produced by biomass sorghum genotypes associated with its calorific has demonstrated the potential of culture for renewable energy production.