Track 4-1-2: Breeding Cultivated Forage Species for Biomass, Quality and Stress Tolerance
Description
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) the fifth most important cereal crop of the world is also valued for its fodder and stover. In India, fodder sorghum is grown in 2.6 mha mainly in western UP, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Delhi and fulfils over two-third of the fodder demand.
Sorghum has four desirable qualities viz., high dry matter yield, light, water and nitrogen use efficiency. Sorghum stover is valued over all other sources of fodder. Thus, sorghum is used as fodder to the domestic animals for its better performance. The projected demand for fodder in India in 2020 is expected to be 855 MT of green fodder, 526 MT of dry matter and 56 MT of concentrate feed (Dikshit and Birthal, 2010). In this perspective it is important to develop genotypes of high fodder yield and nutritive value.
Cases of cyanide poisoning in animals feeding on sorghum forage have been reported in many parts of the country. HCN is absorbed into the blood stream very quickly and inhibits theanimal’s ability to deliver oxygen to tissue for cellular respiration. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, the minimum lethal blood concentration level for HCN is approximately 3.0 μg/ml or less. It is highly desirable that the toxicity of cyanogenic plants to livestock be reduced. This is achievable by selective breeding, screeningof germplasm for low-HCN-p, mutagenesis and genetic engineering.
With this background, the present investigation was contemplated among sorghum germplasm accessions to develop a reference set for cyanogenic potential (HCN-p). These accessions were also evaluated for fodder yield traits and entries with low HCN-p and high biomass were identified.
Included in
Development of a Reference Set of Sorghum (Sorghum spp.) for Cyanogenic Potential (HCN-p) and Evaluating Their Fodder Yield Traits
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) the fifth most important cereal crop of the world is also valued for its fodder and stover. In India, fodder sorghum is grown in 2.6 mha mainly in western UP, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Delhi and fulfils over two-third of the fodder demand.
Sorghum has four desirable qualities viz., high dry matter yield, light, water and nitrogen use efficiency. Sorghum stover is valued over all other sources of fodder. Thus, sorghum is used as fodder to the domestic animals for its better performance. The projected demand for fodder in India in 2020 is expected to be 855 MT of green fodder, 526 MT of dry matter and 56 MT of concentrate feed (Dikshit and Birthal, 2010). In this perspective it is important to develop genotypes of high fodder yield and nutritive value.
Cases of cyanide poisoning in animals feeding on sorghum forage have been reported in many parts of the country. HCN is absorbed into the blood stream very quickly and inhibits theanimal’s ability to deliver oxygen to tissue for cellular respiration. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, the minimum lethal blood concentration level for HCN is approximately 3.0 μg/ml or less. It is highly desirable that the toxicity of cyanogenic plants to livestock be reduced. This is achievable by selective breeding, screeningof germplasm for low-HCN-p, mutagenesis and genetic engineering.
With this background, the present investigation was contemplated among sorghum germplasm accessions to develop a reference set for cyanogenic potential (HCN-p). These accessions were also evaluated for fodder yield traits and entries with low HCN-p and high biomass were identified.
