The aim of this study was to study the agronomic traits of different Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench hybrids for silage productionin semiarid conditions. It was a 1-year evaluation conducted in a randomized block design with 24 treatments and three replicates. The treatments were sorghum hybrids developed by the breeding program of "Embrapa Milho e Sorgo" (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation). The fresh matter yield (FMY) in the first cut varied from 22,643.56 to 44,033.15 kg/ha, with an average of 32,607.37 kg/ha, leading to the formation of two groups. Similar results were observed for the dry matter yield (DMY), in which the highest group yielded from 9,471.32 to 14,540.23 kg/ha dry matter (DM). For plant regrowth, there was an increase in the number of stems and a decrease in the amount of panicles. Two groups were formed for the accumulated dry matter yield (ADMY), averaging 14,217.91 kg/ha; the highest group showed mean values of 18,003.00 to 14,221.94 kg/ha. The evaluated sorghum hybrids exhibited satisfactory accumulated forage yields due to their high yield in regrowth, which indicates that they are suitable for use in animal production systems in semi-arid regions.
Keywords: dry matter; forage; panicle; plant for silage; regrowth.