CSH 22SS – an improved sweet sorghum hybrid

Parentage: ICSA 38 x SSV 84 Medium duration hybrid: 120 days;Days to 50% fl owering: 80 to 88 days;Plant height: 280–350 cm;High stalk yield (44–52 t ha-1): 29% higher than SSV 84 and CSV 19SS. ; High ethanol yield (1250–1320 L ha-1):43% higher than SSV 84 and 34% 8% higher than CSV 19SS. High CCS (3.2–4.0 t ha-1): 33% higher than SSV 84

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Not AvailableFile attachedICAR-IIMR, Hyderaba

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Not AvailableLow remuneration and adoption of sorghum production technologies were among the major constraints for drastic reduction in its cultivation. Therefore, evaluation of production potential, adoption, economic and other benefits of the technologies in social perspectives of the farmers was felt essential. The study was conducted with 200 adopted farmers under field trials organized during five years from 2009-10 to 2013-14 in five districts in two prominent sorghum growing regions in Maharashtra State of India. The yield potential and merits was measured by following before and after method, and data were collected through semi-structured interview schedule. The performance of the demonstrated technologies was resulted into increased in adoption (27%), higher net returns (170%), followed by grain yield (58%) with better quality (78%) and fodder yield (26%), and found to be significantly positive over the pre-FLD. It enabled to motivate farmers and increase in area under sorghum by 29 per cent. Furthermore, the additional returns helped them in spending significantly higher on purchase of household items (111%) followed by, on attending more social functions (109%), purchase of animals (91%), in start of new business (86%), deposit in bank (77%) and investment in farm development activities (62%).ICAR-IIMR, Hyderaba

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Not AvailableID: B032 Seedling mortality in Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] was observed to be a serious constraint in rabi sorghum cultivation in semi arid regions of the country resulting in 20- 40% death of seedlings. Seedling mortality which was evident in 15 -30 days old seedlings manifested as seedling blight or damping of symptoms initiating as drying of foliage followed by complete browning of the seedlings.Under severe conditions affected fields revealed many seedling blight patches.. Investigations were carried out in 2015-16 to ascertain the etiology and epidemiology of seedling mortality and to develop suitable control measures to mitigate the considerable losses.Critical examination of the roots of affected seedlings exhibited brown discoloration and hardening of the main root of the plants with occasional girdling below the collar region. Examination of root sections of affected seedlings under the microscope quite often revealed hyphae and seldom sclerotia of Rhizoctonia bataicola (sclerotial stage of Macrophomina phaseolina) in cells of epidermis and cortex tissues. Isolations obtained from such infected roots onto PDA slants frequently exhibited growth of Macrophomina phaseolina with abundant sclerotial bodies and Fusarium spp. Pathogenicity tests of M. phaseolina revealed seedling mortality and also charcoal rot infections in 3 - 4 months old plants under pot culture studies. Based on microscopic, morphological and cultural studies and pathogenicity tests, the causal organism of seedling mortality was identified as Macrophominaphaseolina. Isolations made from previous year’s soil of sorghum fields also revealed growth of M. phaseolina (scleotial bodies). Although, most of the isolations from affected roots of blighted seedlings revealed growth of M.phaseolina, occasionally isolations also exhibited colonies of pathogens like Exserohilum turcicum and Curvularia lunata. Seedling mortality was observed to be further aggravated by soil moisture stress and high temperature (>32.0o C) conditions which favored formation of dry and hard black soil aggregates and impeded normal secondary root development of seedlings thereby resulting in their mortality. Soil drenching prior to sowing with fungicide solution carbendazim (12%) + mancozeb (63%) @ 0.2% provided 60.0% control of seedling mortality over untreated plots. Sterilized soil revealed almost complete control of seedling mortality over un-sterilized soil collected from sorghum fields in pot culture studies.Present investigations evidently revealed that seedling mortality in rabi sorghum is mainly caused by M. phaseolina and Fusarium spp. particularly under soil moisture stress and high temperature conditions.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableShoot fly, Atherigona soccata (Ronadani) is the most important insect pest on sorghum, which severely damages the crop during the seedling stage. Larvae crawl into the central whorl, cut the terminal growing bud, and feed on the decaying tissue which results in the drying of central leaf, typically causing deadheart (DH). Host plant resistance is one of the major components to control sorghum shoot fly. Entries with faster seedling growth rate, narrower leaves, greater trichome density, glossy leaf surface are important for resistance to sorghum shoot fly. To breed lines incorporated with these traits for resistance, we followed single seed decent method in developing F8 material of two crosses between highly susceptible seed parent, 296B and two resistant germplasm lines, IS 18551 and IS 2205. The genetic material was evaluated over two rainy seasons of 2016 and 2017 following standard fish-meal technique. Results indicated that eight of the progenies were significantly better than the seed parent, 296B and were on par with the resistance sources for their shoot fly reaction. The resistant progenies exhibited all the desirable traits of resistance. The shoot fly damage (measured as % DH) was significantly low (-47%) in the progenies than the seed parent, 296B. Similarly, as compared to susceptible parent, these progenies were quick in their seedling growth (61% higher seedling height), had significantly lesser number of eggs per seedling (-52%), epicuticular wax load (-54%), higher leaf glossiness (54%), higher abaxial (135%) and adaxial (457%) trichome density. In addition, these lines are agronomically good for grain yield, and hence can be of much use in sorghum breeding to improve shoot fly resistance.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableTwo set of MAGIC founder lines were used to develop 8 parent MAGIC populations, first set includes M35-1(M1), DSV5 (M3),CSV 216 (M4),CSV29R (M5),CRS 20 (M6), Sel.3 (M7), CRS 4 (M8) and the parents viz. CSV 26, Phule Suchitra, CSV 14R, CRs 4, PKV Kranti, Solapur Dagdi, DSV 4, Phule Revati forms the second set. Selected founder lines are from different Rabi sorghum growing areas including Parbhani, rahuri, Solapur, Vijayapura, Dharwad and Gulbarga districtrs of Maharashtra and Karnataka. These two sets consists of three types of varieties (1) High grain & Fodder-quality type (2) High Yielding type (3) Shoot fly and Charcoal rot tolerant type. we are employing two strategies for the development of MAGIC populations .In the first strategy , we made convergent crosses among set 1-8 parental lines and synthesized four single crosses viz. M35-1 x CSV 29R, Parbhani Moti x CRS 20, DSV 5 x Sel.3, and CSV 216R x CRS 4 during Rabi 2015-16. In Kharif 2016, two double crosses were generated from four single crosses and these DCs are planted for 3rd round of hybridization for evolving different plant lines in current rabi season (2016-17). Where as in second strategy , other set of lines were mated in a Half diallel fashion and generated 28 two way recombinants during Rabi 2015-16. Intercrssing among 28 two way crosses is being done during Rabi 2016-17. The double crosses are to be generated in such a way that no single parent should involve more than once and 72 such double crosses are pair-wise mated to evolve different plant lines in subsequent seasons. Different plant lines derived from 3rd round of hybridization are selfed and evaluated for rabi adaptive traits In the later stabilized generations , categorization and construction of various types of multi-genotype varieties . from the superior lines to be done , besides evaluating and comparing their performance with that of its component lines.Not Availabl

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Not AvailablePost-rainy (Rabi) sorghum grows under residual soil moisture conditions and is important for food and fodder security especially during dry seasons in semi-arid regions of India. Unlike rainy sorghum being dominated with hybrids ,post rainy sorghum growing areas are cultivated with varieties especially landrace selections. Genetic improvement of rabi sorghum is hindered by lack of phenotypic variability among breeding lines. Most of the present day improved varieties are the result of pur-line selection practiced among the local /popular varieties. The available varieties have a moderate resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses with moderate average yield (900Kg/ha) but there is a lot of scope to increase up to 1200Kg/ha in near future by reorienting and strengthening rabi breeding programs. Identifying natural allelic variation that underlines quantitative trait variation remains a fundamental problem in genetics. Most studies have employed either simple synthetic populations with restricted allelic variation or performed association mapping on a sample of naturally occurring haplotypes. Both of these approaches have some limitations, therefore alternative resources for the genetic dissection of complex traits continue to be sought. Nevertheless, Breeders and Molecular geneticists have routinely used populations derived from bi-parental crosses for variety development and mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Most of the varieties in self- pollinated crops like sorghum are based on single crosses between two parents and bi-parental populations have only one opportunity for crossing over . In this context, a novel multi-genotype breeding strategy to achieve genetic diversity within a variety where multi-genotype varieties of Rabi sorghum have to be developed through convergent crossing of multiple parental lines. Development of MAGIC populations helps to promote inter-crossing and shuffling of the genome. Such populations are now attractive for researchers due to the development of high – throughput SNP genotyping platforms and advances in statistical methods to analyze data from such populations.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableCombining ability analysis is usually employed to identify the desirable parent and to study the nature of genetic variation. Keeping this in view , field experiments were conducted at Centre on Rabi Sorghum, ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Solapur during 2015-16 & 2016-17 to assess the combining ability for yield and its attributing traits in Rabi sorghum. The experimental material consisted of four lines viz. CSV 29R, Selection 3, M35-1, Phule chitra and four testers viz. Solapur Dagdi, CRS 20, DSV 5 and CRS 4. The crosses were affected in a line x Tester fashion. The crosses along with parents were evaluated in a Randomized Block Design with two replications . The results revealed that among the lines CSV 29R and M35-1 and among the testers CRS 20 and DSV 5 had recorded high per se and gca for yield and its contributing characters. Among the hybrids combinations CSV 29R x CRS 20 and CSV 29R x DSV 5 had significant and superior per se performance for grain yield per plant, fodder yield per plant, panicle length , panicle weight and 1000 seed weight. Results from specific combining ability studies , revealed that the crosses viz. CSV 29R x CRS 20, M35-1 x CRS 20, and CSV 29R x DSV 5 had significant sca effects for most of the characters. The hybrids CSV 29R x CRS 20, CSV 29R x DSv 5, and M35-1 x CRS 20 were from parents with high x high gca and CSV 29R x Solapur Dagdi, Selection 3 x CRS 4 and M35-1 x Solapur Dagdi were from parents with high x low gca combinations. Thus , six crosses are suggested for realization of transgressive segregants in F2 and subsequent generations.Not Availabl

Iterative germination and innovative techniques for the production and inoculation of secondary conidia of sorghum ergot (Claviceps africana)

Five methods of harvesting pure secondary conidia were attempted, but only one was successful. The only successful method involved moving air across the surface of water agar plates or moist soil on which secondary sporulation was occurring at 0.2 – 3 m/s. Among the inoculation techniques, brushing the secondary conidia on to the wet stigma gave maximum ergot infection (80%) followed by brushing the secondary conidia on to the dry stigma (77%). Conidia of Claviceps africana produced up to seven generations of sibling conidia. The length and width of secondary conidia showed a reduction in size from 10.92 – 10.13 µm and 5.49 – 5.13 µm, respectively, across generations. However no definite trend in decline in size of secondary conidia was evident. The optimum temperature range for germination of secondary conidia of Australian isolates of C. africana is between 14.6 and 20°C