Sowing dates of sweet sorghum for bioethanol

Abstract

In this work it was evaluated the effect of sowing date on the production characteristics and sugars composition of sweet sorghum. Based on these parameters the potential for bioethanol production from this crop was estimated. The study was conducted over two years (2005 and 2006), with the variety Madhura. The sowing was carried out on four dates: May 17, May 31, June 14, and June 28. In May 17, the yield of fresh and dry stems attained the values of 66 and 13.8 t ha^-1, respectively. These values were significantly higher than those obtained in June seeding dates. The maximum sugar yield in May was 4.6 t ha^-1, equivalent to 2300 L ha^-1 of bioethanol. The results obtained suggest that the sowing dates of May were those that best prompted the suitability of sweet sorghum as energetic crop for bioethanol production.