Academic Research Journal of Agricultural Science and Research
 

Academic Research Journal of Agricultural Science and Research 

Vol. 6(4), pp. 251-259. May, 2018.

ISSN: 2360-7874 

 DOI: 10.14662/ARJASRD2018.033

Full Length Research

Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance for Agronomical Traits of Ethiopian Sorghum [Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench] Genotypes

Tafere Mulualem¹, Sentayehu Alamrew², Taye Tadesse³ & Dagne Wegary⁴

^{1, 2}Jimma University, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, P.O.Box, 307, Jimma Ethiopia

³Plant Breeder, Melkassa Agricultural Research Center, P.O.Box, 436 Adama, Ethiopia

⁴Plant Breeder CIMMYT, ILRI Campus- P.O.Box, 5689 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

*Corresponding author: tafere_mulualem@yahoo.com

Accepted 11 May 2018

Ethiopia is the center of origin and domestication for sorghum with a wide range of sorghum collections for various agro ecologies. However, there are many factors that hinder the production and productivity of sorghum. Thus, the present study was to assess genetic variability of early and medium maturing lowland adapted landrace and improved sorghum genotypes to evaluate the performance of sorghum genotypes and identify promising lines for the dry lowland environments of Ethiopia. Alpha lattice design involving 110early and medium maturing sorghum genotypes were used in replicated twice at Meiso and Sheraro in 2016 cropping season. Results from combined analysis of variance over the two locations revealed that mean squares due to genotypes for almost all traits were highly significant (P ≤ 0.01) i.e. for days to flowering, days to maturity, grain yield, panicle weight, hundred grain weight, panicle length, plant height and disease score in both locations. The significant mean squares due to genotypes indicated the existence of variation among the genotypes, which could be exploited for the improvement of respective traits. heritability for  nine  morpho-agronomic  traits  calculated  ranged from 0.03 for grain yield to 0.93 for plant height at Meiso and from 0.02 for  plant height  to  0.19  for  number of panicles per plot  at  Sheraro.  The information generated in the present study will be useful for breeders who want to improve yield and yield-contributing traits of sorghum. 

Key words: Agronomic traits, Ethiopian, Genetic variability, Heritability and Sorghum

How to cite this article: Mulualem T, Alamrew S, Tadesse T, Wegary D (2018). Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance for Agronomical Traits of Ethiopian Sorghum [Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench] Genotypes. Acad. Res. J. Agri. Sci. Res. 6(4): 251-259

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