Research Projects

Sorghum is a versatile crop used in various applications, including food, fodder, feed, and fuel. The primary gene pool can be utilized for crop improvement, and tertiary gene pool species can be introduced for resistance to pests and grain quality. However, tertiary wild species are not suitable for crossing programs due to pollen-pistil inhibitions. A previous project successfully overcomes interspecific fertilization barriers by pre-treating sorghum florets and spraying 2,4D. This led to the introduction of wild traits into sorghum, marking the beginning of pre-breeding material. The current proposal aims to develop and characterize trait-specific lines from inter-specific hybridization of sorghum, including grain quality, antioxidant properties, and resistance to shoot fly in hybrid breeding programs. The goal is to widen the genetic base of two parental lines, 27 and 126, and select lines with promising new traits without compromising yield and related traits. The diversification of genetic base in parental lines of hybrid programs is crucial. Back cross populations from three inter-specific crosses in sorghum parents, 27 and 126, have shown promise in in-house field evaluation. The aim is to identify and characterize lines for resistance to shoot fly, improved parental lines, and high antioxidant lines from inter-specific crosses in sorghum.