Registration of “Marara” Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] Variety

Adaptability; AMMI; Variety; Yield; Yield stability

Authors

June 1, 2023

Background: Sorghum is one of the most important grain crops in Ethiopia, which is widely cultivated across diverse agro-ecologies. However, the national average yield of the crop is far below its potential. Limited availability of high yielding, disease resistant and yield-stable sorghum varieties are major production constraints in the country.
Objectives: This study was conducted with the objective of developing high yielding, widely adaptable, and disease-tolerant sorghum varieties for agro-ecologies of intermediate altitudes in the country.
Materials and Methods: Twenty-one sorghum genotypes including standard checks (Gemedi and Chemeda) were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with three replications for two consecutive years, during the 2017 to 2018 main cropping seasons at Bako, Billo-Boshe, Uke and Gute research stations.
Results: Additive Main effect and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) and Genotype and Genotype by Environment (GGE) biplot analysis revealed that ETSL 101371(Acc.213642), an accession obtained from Amhara Regional State was found to be the most stable across locations and high yielding (5.35 t ha–1) among the tested genotypes. This best performing genotype was named “Marara” and officially released in 2019 as a new variety. “Marara” showed about a 40% yield advantage over the best standard check, Gemedi; and 110.6 % over the second check Chemeda.
Conclusion: The results of the study have revealed that there was a highly significant variation between the sorghum genotypes, with Acc. ETSL 101371(Acc. 213642) named “Marara” being the most stable and productive among the genotypes. As a result, it was officially released for the country's middle altitude regions.

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