MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY IN SORGHUM GERMPLASM FROM INDIA

Of the 5000 sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Monench) germplasm accessions assembled at ICRISAT Asia Center (IAC), over 4000 accessions from Ii m ajor sorghum growing states in India were evaluated for morphological and agronomical characters at IAC during rainy and postrainy seasons. Considerable diversity was observed for all the characters studied. Di versity was more among states than within states. Variation among the seasons was also considerable Days to flowering ranged from 42 to 129 days during postrainy and 33 to 280 days during the rainy season indic ating their day length sensitivity. Plant height ranged from 65 to 330 cm during postrainy and 75 to 655 cm during rainy season. Panicle len gth ranged from 5 cm to 52 cm and panicle width from 1 to 51 cm. Erect and compact panicles are more frequent although all possible panicle shapes and compactness were found. In general, sorghums from India pro duce medium to large, lustrous grains in which the subcoat (testa) is absent. All the 5 basic and IO intermediate sorghum races were found i n India though durra or half-durra predominate. Racial diversity is ma ximal in the state of Andhra Pradesh followed by Maharashatra state. I n the world collection a majority of the sources of resistance to shoo t fly, stem borer, and striga are from India. Based on diversity for m orphological and agronomical characters, India could be considered as the secondary center of diversity. Sorghum germplasm from India is use ful for good quality large grain.