Multienvironment Evaluation of Tannin-Free Photoperiod-Insensitive Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench) for Yield and Resistance to Grain Mold in Senegal

Abstract

Combining resistance to grain mold with high grain yield in tannin-free white-grained photoperiod-insensitive sorghum is of major interest for farmers in Senegal. In this study, GGE biplot analysis was used to assess the performance, adaptability, and stability of eleven sorghum parental lines and their hybrid combinations for yield and grain mold resistance under Senegalese environments. Eleven inbred lines along with their 22 hybrid combinations and one check were evaluated across three sites during the 2015 and 2016 rainy seasons under natural grain mold infestation. The results of this study showed strong genetic variability among studied genotypes for all measured traits. The highly significant G × E interaction effects for grain yield and panicle grain mold rating score (PGMR) indicated that both traits are influenced by genetics and to some extent by environment. Broad-sense heritability computed was high for all these traits except PGMR, showing a high environmental pressure on this later. The study showed that grain mold pressure in the studied sites decreased following a South-North gradient similar to the rainfall pattern, with the south region wetter, explaining the high disease pressure in Darou and Sinthiou Maleme contrary to Bambey. The GGE biplot analysis performed showed that the first two principal components explained 85.84% of the total variation of GGE sum of squares for grain yield. The which-won-where view of the GGE biplot for grain yield showed that the hybrid HB16 was the most adapted for Bambey area. The ranking of genotypes based on both yield performance and stability showed that HB16, HB5, HB21, HB18, and HB7 were the best hybrids combining high grain yield, high stability performance, and tolerance to grain mold disease across the test environments. These hybrids outperformed the best yielding inbred line P29 (2196.7 kg ha−1) with grain yield advantages ranging 17–60%. Therefore, these hybrids could be recommended to farmers in order to improve sorghum yield in Senegal.

A Genome-Wide Association Study of Nigerien and Senegalese Sorghum Germplasm of Exserohilum turcicum, the Causal Agent of Leaf Blight

“…In the last 5 years (2017/2018 to 2021/2022), a mean area of planted sorghum of 250,000 ha, as well as 302,000 tons of production, was recorded in Senegal [6]. During the same period, the mean yield in the country was 1.2 tons/ha [6], despite the fact that most of the sorghum crops planted were landraces with low yields; however, some of the advanced/improved varieties developed and released by Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles/Centre National de Recherches Agronomiques can produce yields of up to 5 tons/ha in experimental stations with high farm inputs [4,7]. Nevertheless, sorghum production and profitability are constrained by biotic stresses in Senegal, including leaf blight, incited by Exserohilum turcicum (Pass,) K. J. Leonard & E. G. Suggs [syn.…”