CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSUMPTIVE WATER USE OF MILLET AND SORGHUM DEPENDING ON THE SOWING TIME IN DRY CONDITIONS OF STEPPE ZONE

The article presents data on the influence of different sowing times on consumptive water use of millet and grain sorghum crops when grown in the conditions of the eastern part of Ukraine. The research was carried out on the experimental field of Lugansk State Agrarian University in 2011–2012 and 2016– 2018. On average for 2016 – 2018 the total consumptive water use of millet from a metre-deep layer of soil was 2052.4 m3/ha. The greatest total consumptive water use was on the sowing date on May 5 (2589.7 m3/ha). The minimum total consumptive water use was during sowing on June 5 (1432.7 m3 / ha). The smallest amount of water for the formation of 1 ton of grain was on the sowing date on June 5 (631.9 m3/t). The greatest payback of water resources by grain yield was on late sowing dates (1.43-1.66 kg/m3). More economical use of soil moisture for the formation of 1 ton of grain when growing grain sorghum was noted on a sowing date on May 15 (462.7 m3/t). The maximum payback of water resources with sorghum yield was also obtained at this sowing period (2.16 kg/m3).