History of post-rainy season sorghum research in India and strategies for breaking the yield plateau

Post-rainy (rabi) sorghum grows under residual soil moisture conditions and is important for food and fodder security especially during dry seasons in semi-arid regions of India. Unlike rainy sorghum being dominated with hybrids, post-rainy sorghum growing areas are cultivated with varieties especially landrace selections. Much of the area is covered by M 35-1, a landrace selection developed seven and half decades ago. Post-rainy sorghum research did not receive much emphasis until nineties and the varieties or hybrids bred and released could not match M 35-1 in yield or quality. Some progress has been made recently with the release of varieties for specific soil depths viz., shallow, medium and deep soils. Efforts made to develop hybrids with wider adaptability to varied production environments did not fetch much success. The hybrids lacked significant heterosis, grain quality and shoot fly resistance comparable to M 35-1. Also, low temperatures at anthesis caused poor seed settings in hybrids. Strategic research is required to develop new varieties and hybrids for post-rainy season to break the yield plateau.