Performance evaluation of sweet sorghum lines for bio-ethanol and grains under pangasinan condition (3 trials)

The general objective of the study is to conduct evaluation trial of five (5) sweet sorghum lines under Pangasinan condition. Specifically, it aims to determine their agronomic characteristics and identify and recommend varieties that are suitable for ethanol production. This paper highlighted the results of the three (3) trials conducted from October 2007 to February 2009. All data gathered were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and mean differences were determined by Least Significant Differences (LSD) test at 1% and 5% levels of significance. Analysis of variance in the 1st and 2nd trials showed that there were significant differences among varieties observed for plant height, stalk yield, stripped stalk yield, stalk juice volume, stalk juice yield, Brix, stillage yield, grain yield and seed size. In the 3rd trial, however, stalk yield and stripped stalk yield parameters showed that there were no significant differences among the varieties tested. The mean agronomic characteristics of the 5 varieties evaluated showed that ICSV 700 performed better in terms of plant height. Consequently, ICSV 700 and ICSV 93046 were the top performers in terms of stalk yield, stripped stalk yield, stalk juice volume, stalk juice yield, and *Brix. The varieties SPV422 and NTJ2 performed better in terms of stillage yield in the 1st trial while SPV 422 obtained the best performance in the 2nd trial. However, for the 3rd trial, ICSV 93046 performed better as compared to the other varieties. On grain yield parameter for 1st and third trials, SPV422, ICSR93034 and NTJ2 were among the top yielders. Data on grain yield was not taken in the second trial due since it was attacked by the birds. Whereas, in terms of seed weight, ICSR 93034, performed better in the 1st and 2nd trials, while SPV 422 performed better in the 3rd trial.