Grain Yield Performance of Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] Genotypes and Correlation Analysis of Yield and Agronomic Traits in Ethiopia

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate sorghum genotypes at Fedis, Meiso, Kobo, Pawi and Humera with the objective of determining the yield performance and correlation status of yield and agronomic characteristics of released sorghum varieties. The materials used in the study consisted of eight sorghum genotypes representing the types widely grown in lowland areas. The treatments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. The combined analysis of variance revealed a significant variation among entries for most of the traits considered. From twelve characters the environment effect was highly significant for days to flowering and stand count at harvest and significant for days to maturity and thousand seed weight. Based on the mean performance of the genotypes Abishir, Gobye and Birhan gave higher mean grain yield of 2.85, 2.82 and 2.69tons ha^-1 respectively and the lowest yield was obtained from N-13 and SRN-39 2.28 and 2.27tons ha^-1 respectively. Grain yield was positively and significantly correlated with panicle weight and panicle exertion. Generally, this study showed the performance sorghum genotypes for their yield and correlation characteristics of traits across diverse lowland areas of Ethiopia.

Keywords: combined, correlation, sorghum, yield