Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of cultivar, nitrogen fertilizer rate and plant density on the yield and yield components of sorghum planted under different environmental conditions. Field experiment was carried out during the 2016–17 and 2017–18 planting seasons at two locations of North West Province, South Africa. The experimental design was a split-split plot arrangement fitted into a randomized complete block design with four replicates. The main plot factors were high and low plant densities. The nitrogen fertilizer rates were 0, 100 and 150 kg/ha as the sub-plot factor. The sub-sub plot factors were two sorghum cultivars, PAN 8625 and PAN 8816. Parameters measured for yield were panicle length, panicle mass/ha, 1000-grain mass, biomass yield and grain yield. Cultivar, plant density and location had significant effect (P < 0.05) on sorghum panicle mass/ha, grain and biomass yield. Sorghum cultivar PAN 8625 produced a higher grain yield than PAN 8816. The differences observed in sorghum panicle mass/ha were attributed to dissimilarities in panicle weight and seed size among the cultivars planted. The study concluded that PAN 8625 was better than PAN 8816 in terms of yield production. Mafikeng is a good production location for sorghum.