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A Screening Index for Adaptation in Sorghum Cultivars¹

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], although a crop tropical origin, includes many lines adapted to temperate areas. At present, each new line in a breeding program must be checked for adaptation by growing it in a range of potential production environments, an expensive and time-consuming procedure. Recent evidence in sorghum has indicated a relationship between the base temperature of a line measured at germination and its relative adaptation to a given set of environments. The objective of this research was to develop a new technique for determination of base temperature that is inexpensive and rapid enough to allow for the screening of many lines during each breeding cycle. A new data collection system and a new analysis procedure were used to obtain an estimate of a new screening parameter (hereafter referred to as G50). These estimates were derived from a non-linear regression model. The procedure is illustrated with data from eight cultivars for which germination proportions for each of two 25 seed lots at each of six temperatures were available. The G50 values determined for the eight cultivars differed significantly among cultivars, and more importantly were closely related to the known adaptation types of the cultivars. Cultivars which are adapted to temperate areas showed higher G50 values than the cultivars adapted to more tropical environments. The presence of this relationship between GS0 and adaptation and the more rapid data collection method described herein can be used to screen large numbers of lines for probable adaptation without the expense and time necessary for multiple location field observations.

Key Words: Base temperature • G50 index • Non-linear regression • Adaptation • Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench

² Associate research scientist, Dep. of Soil and Crop Science, assistant professor, Dep. of Statistics, and professor, Dep. of Soil and Crop Science, respectively, Texas A&M Univ., College Station.

Received for publication April 11, 1983.

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