Phenology, growth and yield of some sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) genotypes under irrigated condition at Sinnar

Abstract

This research was carried out to study the phenology, growth, yield, and to estimate the genetic variability in ten advanced sorghum genotypes at Sinnar Agricultural Research Station Farm, Sinnar, Sudan, during two seasons 2012/13 and 2013/14. Ten advanced sorghum lines provided by the Sorghum Breeding Program, the Agricultural Research Corporation were used in the study. The experiment was arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates. The measured traits were days to 50% flowering, plant height (cm), head exertion (cm), panicle length (cm), number of grains per head, 100 grain weight (g) and grain yield (kg/ha). Analysis of variance indicated highly significant differences (P < 0.01) for all characters among genotypes in each seasons and their combined, except for number of grains per head in the second season. On the average, number of days to 50% flowering ranged between (60 -80 days), plant height (97 -140 cm), head exertion (6 – 12 cm), panicle length (18 -25 cm), number of grains per head (1466 – 2242 grain), 100 grain weight (3 - 4 g) and grain yield (1283 -1882 kg/ha). In generally, phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) were higher than genotypic coefficients of variation (GCV) in all traits for both seasons and also for combined analysis. The GCV and PCV were high for plant height and head exertion (25.5, 27.0% and 21.9, 35.9 %) respectively. The lowest GCV and PCV were obtained by days to 50% flowering and panicle length (9.3, 10.9 and 11.5, 14.3%) respectively of combined data