THE PROBLEMS OF INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF SORGHUM SEED PRODUCTIONIN THE ALTAI REGION AND THE SOLUTIONS

The yield potential of sorghum crops is reached through the varieties. The crops under study use atmospheric pre-cipitation very economically and efficiently; high carbohy-drate content in their herbage makes them valuable com-ponents of multi-species agrophytocenosis with high-protein crops. One of the reasons of insufficient distribution of sorghum crops is a problem of seed production. The use of seeds with low germinating ability leads to high produc-tion costs and low yields. Early ripening, mid-early and mid-ripening varieties persistently mature and produce full val-ue seeds in the Altai Region. They produce good quality seeds practically on any years regarding heat supply; their seed production causes no problem.However, they signifi- АГРОНОМИЯ28Вестник Алтайского государственного аграрного университета No8(202), 2021cantly underperform regarding forage production as com-pared to mid-late and late varieties. Large seed losses (up to 50-70%) are caused by seed cast in windy weather. The average seed cast losses in upright standing plant forms reach 48.0% while in dropping forms the losses are three times lower. The solution is the optimization of plant forms. Other approaches should be applied to seed cast problem solution. A direction of the plant breeding is the develop-ment of the varieties resistant to seed cast characterized by high seed tear-away force from panicle branches. Seed production plots of sorghum crops should be sown on ear-lier dates. Delayed sowing prevents from meeting the growing season timeline, especially of late forms. The seeding rate of 2.5 million seeds per hectare was optimum not only for seed production, but also for forage production. Special attention should be paid to the phosphorus nutrition of maternal plants. Early varieties should be harvested in two-stages; late varieties -by straight-cutting.