Selection Strategy for Sorghum Targeting Phosphorus-limited Environments in West Africa: Analysis of Multi-environment Experiments

Leiser, W L and Rattunde, H F W and Piepho, H -P and Weltzien, E and Diallo, A and Melchinger, A E and Parzies, H K and Haussmann, B I G (2012) Selection Strategy for Sorghum Targeting Phosphorus-limited Environments in West Africa: Analysis of Multi-environment Experiments. Crop Science, 52 (6). pp. 2517-2527. ISSN 0011-183X

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Abstract

Although sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] in West Africa (WA) is generally cultivated with limited or no fertilization on soils of low phosphorus availability, no assessments of the genetic variation among WA sorghum varieties for adaptation to low soil P are known. We assessed grain yields of 70 diverse sorghum genotypes under −P (no P fertilization) and +P conditions at two locations in Mali over 5 yr. Genetic variation for grain yield under −P conditions and the feasibility and necessity of sorghum varietal testing for grain yield under −P conditions were evaluated. Delayed heading dates (0–9.8 d) and reductions of grain yield (2–59%) and plant height (13–107 cm) were observed in −P relative to the +P trials. High estimates of genetic variance and broad-sense heritabilities were found for grain yield across both −P (h2 = 0.93) and +P (h2 = 0.92) environments. The genetic correlation for grain yield performance between −P and +P conditions was high (rG = 0.89), suggesting that WA sorghum varieties generally possess good adaptation to low-P conditions. However, genotype × phosphorus crossover interaction was observed between some of the highest yielding genotypes from the −P and +P selected sets, with the variety IS 15401 showing specific adaptation to −P. Direct selection for grain yield in −P conditions was predicted to be 12% more efficient than indirect selection in +P conditions. Thus, selection under −P conditions should be useful for sorghum improvement in WA.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Subjects:	Mandate crops > Sorghum Others > Genetics and Genomics
Depositing User:	Mr Sanat Kumar Behera
Date Deposited:	11 Oct 2012 04:15
Last Modified:	11 Oct 2012 04:15
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/6181
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2012.02.0139
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	McKnight Foundation, Generation Challenge Programme
Acknowledgement:	This paper is dedicated to our recently deceased colleague and friend Heiko K. Parzies. The staff of the Sorghum Breeding Program at the Institut de Economie Rural and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Mali who conducted the trials in this study, the fi nancial support of the McKnight Foundation and the Generation Challenge Program, and the statistical support we received from the University of Reading are gratefully acknowledged. Further, we would also like to thank the Institut de l’Environnement et des Recherches Agricoles in Burkina Faso for providing some of the genotypes
Links:	Google Scholar

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