Genetic Diversity of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench) for Agronomic Traits and Shoot Fly Tolerance and Suitability for Winter Season

Genetic diversity analysis of sorghum germplasm could provide useful information on selection of parental lines and diversifying the genetic base in winter sorghum wherein yield improvement has been marginal. An experiment was conducted on 4000 germplasm lines belonging to 28 countries of origin in augmented design in two winter sorghum growing regions of Maharashtra. Observations were recorded on yield parameters and traits governing shoot fly tolerance. Promising germplasm lines were identified for individual agronomic traits and shoot fly tolerance. The lines from Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya had more grain yield and the lines from India were tolerant to shoot fly. Though grain yield per plant was more variable among all the traits, the PCA analysis revealed that the panicle length, panicle width and shoot fly dead heart % contributed maximum towards divergence. A hierarchical cluster resulted in 11 clusters of originating countries with the accessions from Yemen, Gambia, Somalia, Mozambique, China and India clustering individually. Grain yield was positively associated with shoot fly resistance indicating possibility of co-evolution.