Characterization of 2500 Indigenous Collections of sorghum (Sorghum bicolar L.) germplasm

In the present investigation, a total of 2500 sorghum accessions were characterized during Rabi 2015-16 to assess the variability and identify trait specific accessions for utilization in the sorghum improvement. Excellant variability was observed in four quantitative and nine qualitative traits used for characterization. There was a positive correlation for grain yield and other traits such as 100-seed weight, glume colour, grain size, presence of awn and grain lustre. Variability of 77.41% was explained by the first two principal components. Potential accessions identified for different traits included longer ear head length (>40 cm) - IC287849, IC287851, IC288219, IC289031, IC288092 and IC287117; wider ear head width (>9.0 cm) - IC287879, IC288019 and IC288322; higher grain yield (>85 g/plant) - IC287939, IC287934, IC288344, IC288325, IC288265, IC287960 and IC288268; and 100-seed weight (>4.7 g) - IC287819, IC288591, IC288033 and IC287553. These accessions could be used to develop varieties or parental lines to widen the genetic variability in sorghum crop improvement.