Journal of Energy Bioscience 2025, Vol.16, No.4, 193-204 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/jeb 196 4 Agronomic Management Strategies 4.1 Nutrient management Reasonable nutrient management, especially the application of nitrogen fertilizer, is an important method to improve the energy utilization efficiency of sorghum. Research has found that an appropriate amount of nitrogen fertilizer can significantly increase the biomass and yield of sorghum. However, if applied in excessive amounts, it will reduce nitrogen utilization efficiency and also increase environmental pressure. The use of new types of fertilizers such as coated urea can enhance the utilization rate of nitrogen and increase production. Some studies suggest that under the current yield conditions, the application of coated urea at 120 kg N/ha can simultaneously optimize the yield and nitrogen utilization efficiency (Yan et al., 2022). In addition, the combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, such as the application of Leucaena green manure and NPK compound fertilizer together, can improve soil fertility, increase nutrient supply, thereby enhancing sorghum yield and energy utilization efficiency (Lopez-Sandin et al., 2019; Kugedera et al., 2022). It should be noted that low-input systems (such as no-tillage and less fertilization) perform better in terms of energy utilization efficiency, which indicates that while pursuing high yields, the balance between input and output should also be considered (Garofalo et al., 2018; Jankowski et al., 2020; Bazaluk et al., 2021) (Figure 2). Figure 2 Sweet sorghum production: (a) a disc harrow; (b) shallow tillage; and (c) field studies (Adopted from Bazaluk et al., 2021)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4ODYzNA==