Temesgen Begna
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Chiro National Sorghum Research and Training Center, P. O. Box 190, Chiro, Ethiopia
Correspondence: tembegna@gmail.com
A narrow genetic base and lack of potential drought-resistant sorghum genotypes are the major limiting factors for sorghum yield improvement under moisture-stress conditions. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to quantify the genetic variation available among sorghum genotypes for drought tolerance. A total of 42 sorghum genotypes were evaluated using an alpha lattice experimental design with two replications at Mieso and Kobo during the cropping season of 2019. The combined analyses of variance revealed the presence of substantial genetic variation among sorghum genotypes for all the studied traits. Among the traits with high genotypic coefficients of variation and heritability estimates, plant height, panicle emergence, and panicle yield were linked with higher values of genetic advance as a percentage of the mean, reflecting that the variability of these traits is controlled by additive gene action. High heritability and genetic advancement as percentages of the mean were obtained for plant height (95.63 and 45.39%), 1000-seed weight (77.98 and 23.86%), panicle exertion (74.87 and 51.88%), and panicle yield (65.43 and 37.32%). The maximum grain yield was obtained from hybrids 4x14 (6.32tha-1), followed by hybrids 8x15 (5.92tha-1), 1x15 (5.88tha-1), 13x14 (5.78tha-1) and 6x15 (5.57tha-1), with an average value of 5.00tha-1, which was greater than the mean value of the parents and the check (ESH-4). In general, this study revealed genetic variability in sorghum genotypes for different traits under moisture stress conditions, providing an opportunity to select several promising genotypes with key traits related to drought tolerance.