Evaluation of South African sorghum landraces and breeding of varieties suitable for low-input agriculture

A large number of sorghum landraces possessing superior grain quality but poor yield potential are cultivated in South Africa, where sorghum is of regional importance as a main staple food. Agronomic traits of landraces and newly developed breeding lines from Southern Africa were evaluated under low-input and optimal conditions. Molecular evaluation was carried out on the basis of AFLPs and SSRs. The accessions clustered into two groups. Mean genetic similarity was estimated at 0.85 using AFLPs and 0.31 using SSRs. Genetic diversity was calculated at H=0.136 and DI=0.597 for landraces and H=0.140 and DI=0.580 for breeding varieties. The most promising accessions concerning yielding ability and grain quality were selected and introduced to a breeding programme.