Nitrogen efficiency of grain sorghum grown on flat and raised seedbeds on poorly drained soil

Grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) production commonly occurs on poorly drained clayey soils of the Mississippi River delta region inArkansas. Raised, wide seedbeds may improve grain yield and fertilizer N efficiency for narrow‐row sorghum production on these soils. The influence of individual row positions on raised, wide seedbeds was compared to conventional flat seedbed for grain yield, yield components, dry weight, and N uptake. A 193‐cm wide and 15 cm high crowned seedbed (CB) was compared to the flat seedbed (FB) in 1987 and 1988 on a Sharkey silty clay (very fine, mont‐morillonitic, nonacid, thermic, Vertic Haplaquepts) at Keiser, AR. Three rows were planted on each seedbed treatment; one in the middle of the bed and one row 48 cm to each side of the row in the middle. Nitrogen rates of 0, 56, 112, and 168 kg/ha were applied at planting. In addition, two split applications at the 168 kg/ha N rate (56 kg N/ha at planting and 112 kg N/ha at either four‐leaf or eight‐leaf growth stage) were evaluated. Each row position was evaluated for grain yield, yield components, plant dry weight, and N uptake. Whole plant samples were collected at the anthesis and physiological maturity growth stages. The field average grain yield was higher on the CB each year regardless of N rate applied at planting. This yield increase on the CB was related to the row on the top of the CB yielding more than the equivalent row on the FB. The responses of plant dry weight at each growth stage, N uptake at each growth stage, and N content of the seed was similar to grain yield responses. The split N application at planting and the eight‐leaf growth stage was as effective or better than any other treatment for increasing grain yield, N uptake, and seed N content.