VARIEDADES DE SORGO SACARINO EM DIFERENTES ESPAÇAMENTOS E POPULAÇÃO DE PLANTAS

The sweet sorghum has emerged as an important alternative to the generation of biomass ethanol. Thisstudy evaluated the effect of row spacing and plant population on the production of sweet sorghum. Two experimentswere established in two locations, Patos de Minas, MG and Sete Lagoas, MG, using the cultivars BRS 505 and CMSXS647, respectively. A randomized blocks design in a 4 x 4 factorial scheme was used, with 4 row-spacings (0.5, 0.6, 0.7and 0.8 m) and 4 plant populations (80,000; 100,000, 120,000 and 140,000 plants ha-1). The characteristics evaluated atharvest were plant height; stem diameter; number of tillers and leaves; fresh mass (total, of leaves, stems and panicles);mass of juice and Brix. The arrangement of plants affected growth of sweet sorghum, resulting in higher yields of juicein an area cultivated with smaller row spacing and larger plant populations. The reduction in spacing provides greaterincreases in production compared to the increase in plant population, besides increasing the Brix of the broth