Performance of BR 506 sweet sorghum cultivar to ethanol production in two contrasting environments.

Alcohol production in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, reaches only 2 % of what is consumed and there is a trend towards an increase in consumption in the coming years. Sugar cane under this context is seen as one of the poten- tial crops to fulfill part of the needs. However, soil and climate requirements impose limitations to cropping in given areas, including the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Among the species that are able to produce ethanol, sweet sorghum has been considered one of the most important. The short life cycle, the high concentration of fermentable sugars present in the stalks, and the high potential for biomass production, place the species as an excellent alternative for ethanol production. Based on these facts, the present work had as objective evaluate the alcohol production performance of the sweet sor- ghum cultivar BR 506 under two divergent environments located at the Southern part of Rio Grande do Sul State. Results show that BR 506 is an excellent source for ethanol production. At the same time, it can be seen that ethanol production under hydromorphic soils, one of the environments tested, results in lower yields requiring further evaluations.