Abstract

Even though sorghum is dominant cereal crop in Tigray region of Ethiopia, a limited study has been undertaken on existing sorghum landraces variability. Thus, the objectives of this study were to assess the presence and degree of variability among fifteen sorghum landraces for desired agro-morphological traits at Abergelle Agricultural Research Center, northern Ethiopia during 2020 cropping season. The field experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Data were collected and analyzed variance for days to emergence, days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, panicle length, number of seeds per panicle, thousand grain weight, grain yield and striga count at harvesting of sorghum under random stress conditions. Analysis of variance revealed significant genetic difference among sorghum landraces for most of the traits measured. Based on mean performance the genotypes Birle (3750 kg ha-1), Woitozira (3500 kg ha-1), Tewzale (3260 kg ha-1), Daka (3000 kg ha-1) and Amsel (2700 kg ha-1) were found superior over check variety Chare. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) had exceeded the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the variables studied, suggesting certain degree of interaction with the environment. Moreover, high heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percent of mean (GAM) were recorded for grain yield, panicle length, number of seeds per panicle, thousand grain weight and plant height, reflecting the presence of additive gene action for the expression of these traits and improvement of these traits could be done through selection. In conclusion, the high yield performing of sorghum landraces screened in this study could be exploited as source of breeding materials for further sorghum improvement to enhanced grain yield