Sweet sorghum is cultivated primarily for its sugar-rich stalks. The extent to which stalk sugar accumulation occurs is determined by several factors including the grain sink. A Genetic system exists whereby the grain sink can be eliminated to maximize sugar accumulation in the stalks. Before engaging in the development of such system, establishing the extent to which stalk sugar can be improved by removing the grain sink becomes necessary. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of eliminating the grain sink on biomass and sugar accumulation. The experiment consisted of two factors, genotype and sink load. The genotype factor consisted of 22 sweet sorghum lines of variable sugar content, and the sink factor consisted of no-grain and full-grain set. Treatments were arranged in split plot in a randomized complete block design with genotypes assigned to the main plot and the sink effect to the subplot. The study was conducted in four replications in three environments. The no-grain sink treatment was applied by manually removing the panicles prior to anthesis. Analysis of the data collected from one-meter sections of each plot at physiological maturity showed that the genotype effect was significant (P ≤ 0.01) for all traits. Elimination of the grain sink prior to anthesis significantly increased °Brix, wet and dry biomass, and total sugar by 18, 28, and 43%, respectively. These results justify further development of sorghum varieties without a grain sink to maximize sugar yield for biofuel production.

甜高粱主要因其富含糖的茎秆而种植。秸秆糖积累发生的程度由包括谷物汇在内的几个因素决定。存在一个遗传系统，借此可以消除谷物汇，以最大限度地增加秸秆中的糖分积累。在进行此类系统的开发之前，有必要确定通过去除谷物汇来提高秸秆糖含量的程度。本研究的目的是确定消除谷物汇对生物量和糖分积累的影响。实验包括两个因素，基因型和汇负荷。基因型因子由22个含糖量可变的甜高粱品系组成，汇因子由无粒和全粒组组成。处理在随机完整区组设计的裂区中排列，基因型分配给主小区，汇效应分配给子小区。该研究在三种环境中进行了四次重复。通过在开花前手动去除圆锥花序来应用无谷物水槽处理。对生理成熟期各小区一米断面采集的数据进行分析表明，基因型效应显着（P  ≤ 0.01) 所有性状。在开花前消除谷物汇显着增加了°白利糖度、干湿生物量和总糖分，分别增加了 18%、28% 和 43%。这些结果证明进一步开发没有谷物汇的高粱品种是合理的，以最大限度地提高生物燃料生产的糖产量。