Variation in some mineral nutrient accumulation and their association with yield and maturity in grain sorghum

In thirty genotypes of sorghum grown in a replicated trial, substantial genetic variability was observed for ash, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, iron and zinc contents in seeds and for yield and maturity. Broad sense heritability estimates were found to be high for all characters under study. Yield was negatively correlated with ash, magnesium and zinc. There was a negative association between days to maturity and zinc. Magnesium bad positive association with ash, phosphorous and iron. On the other hand magnesium had negative association with zinc. A relative comparison of mineral composition of grain sorghum with other cereals indicated that sorghum grain had better balance of mineral composition as was evidenced by higher values of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and iron than rice and maize.