Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], a staple food crop in Mali, has low yields for several reasons including that many farmers do not have the financial resources to purchase state-of-the-art genetics and fertilizers and information is not available on how to optimize yields for heirloom variety. To improve their economic and environmental sustainability, Mali farmers need to understand how to invest their limited resources. In many situations this involves the use of open-pollinated varieties that have a range of tillering capabilities. This study determined the best population density and nitrogen (N) fertilization combinations for eight locally available sorghum varieties. The research was conducted in 2018 and 2019 and the experimental design was split-split-plot randomized block, the treatments were two plant densities (26,600 and 53,300 plants ha-1), three N levels (0 kg ha-1 , 89 kg ha-1 , and 178 kg ha-1), and eight varieties that had a range of tillering characteristics. Each treatment was replicated three times and six of the varieties were open pollinated. Results showed that each variety had a different yield response to plant density and N rate. For example, the tall guinea (hybrids FADDA and PABLO) and the short durra-caudatum A12-79 cultivar produced higher yields when planted at 53,300 plants ha-1 and Abbreviations: D1, 26,600 plants ha-1 ; D2, 53,300 plants ha-1 ; MRR, marginal rate of return; N0, nitrogen rate of 0 kg ha-1 ; N1, nitrogen rate of 89 kg ha-1 ; N2, nitrogen rate of 178 kg ha-1. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.