Evaluation of Newly Developed Sweet Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) Genotypes for Some Forage Attributes

摘要

Seven elite sweet sorghum genotypes developed by individual plant selection among the land race cultivar "Ankolib" were evaluated across 11 environments in the Sudan throughout the period 2003-2007. The agronomic and quality traits were investigated.The results obtained indicated that the line ANKSSS was superior in forage yield to the parental population Ankolib and the traditional check Abu Sab'in with respective yield advantage amounting to 86.7 % and 25.8 %. Its forage yield was comparable to the recommended cultivar "Kambal". Quality wise, it was better than the recommended cultivar in protein percentage and leafiness and excelled the parent population in sugar content and digestibility. It was also the most stable in yield superiority acrossthe test environments. The release of ANKSSS for commercial production in the Sudan was recommended under green cropping system. It might also perform well in other environments as indicated by its comparatively low GxE Statistic. The seed of ANKSSS is maintained by the Forage Improvement Program at Shambat Research Station, ARC, Sudan. Few amounts of seed for research purposes can be provided upon written request to the corresponding author.