Combining ability analysis in sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)

Abstract

The experiment was undertaken on Line x Tester analysis for ancillary data cane, juice yield and its component traits in crosses of A and R lines of sweet sorghum at All India Co-ordinated Sorghum Improvement Project, M.P.K.V., Rahuri, during the year 2017-18 with objectives to study the general and specific combining ability of parents and hybrids. The CMS lines (females), ten testers (males) and their thirty F1’s hybrid was studied by using L x T design. Observations were recorded on fourteen characters viz., Days to 50% flowering, Days to physiological maturity, Internode / Plant, Plant height (cm), Stem girth (cm), Total biomass yield (t/ha), Cane weight (t/ha), Cane harvest index (%), Juice yield (lit/ha), Brix (%), Reducing sugar (%), Non-reducing sugar (%), Total sugar (%), Computed ethanol yield (lit/ha). Based on result obtained the hybrids CMS-1409A x RSSV-503, ICMS-479A x RSSV-509, ICMS-479A x RSSV-313, ICMS-479A x RSSV-260, CMS-1409A x RSSV-542 were most promising and could be exploited for further hybrid development. While the cms viz., CMS-1409, CMS-185A and restorer lines RSSV-260, RSSV-512, RSSV-509 and RSSV-498 were observed as good general combiners and need due consideration for future hybridization programme.