Golden Jubilee Publication 50 Years of Sorghum Research Contribution of AICRP-Sorghum Centres Aruna C., C. Deepika, KV Raghavendra Rao and Vilas A Tonapi ALL INDIA COORDINATED RESEARCH PROJECT ON SORGHUM ICAR-INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MILLETS RESEARCH Hyderabad 500 030, Telangana, INDIA Citation: Aruna C, Deepika C, Raghavendra Rao KV and Vilas A Tonapi 2020. Golden Jubilee Publication: 50 Years of Sorghum Research: Contribution of AICRP-Sorghum Centres, ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad - 500 030, Telangana, India. PP: 233 ISBN: 978-81-946973-4-3 Number of copies: 500 / 2020 Compiled and Edited by • Aruna C Principal Scientist and PI (Kharif Sorghum Breeding), ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030, email: [email protected] • C Deepika Scientist (Plant Breeding), ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030, email: [email protected] • KV Raghavendra Rao Chief Technical Officer, ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030, email: [email protected] • Vilas A Tonapi Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030, email: director. [email protected] Contributors Scientists from AICRP-Sorghum centres at Akola, Bijapur, Chamarajanagara, Coimbatore, Deesa, Dharwad, Hagari, Hisar, Indore, Ludhiana, Nandyal, Palem, Pantnagar, Parbhani, Rahuri, Surat, Tandur and Udaipur; and all PIs of AICRP-Sorghum. Photo Credits HS Gawali Published by Director and Project Coordinator-AICRP-sorghum ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad - 500 030, Telangana, INDIA Printed at: Balaji Scan Pvt Ltd, Nampally, Hyderabad - 500 001 Tel: 23303424/25, e-mail: [email protected]; website: www.balajiscan.com PREFACE ndian sorghum improvement program can be illustrated as a shining example which has significantly Icontributed towards the green revolution in dry land areas. Sorghum research in India is being carried out at Indian Council for Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Millets Research (ICAR-IIMR) in collaboration with All India Co-ordinated Research Program on sorghum (AICRP on sorghum) and its 18 centres distributed across 10 states of India. In India, systematic efforts for sorghum improvement have started during 1960s by manipulating the genes controlling height and maturity by introducing American germplasm. In 1962, ICAR launched the “Accelerated Hybrid Sorghum Project” (which later became the All India Co-ordinated Research Project on sorghum) with an objective to initiate the hybrid breeding in sorghum. With the release of CSH 1 (the first commercial hybrid) in 1964, sorghum became the second crop after maize in developing high yielding hybrids using cytoplasmic-genetic male sterility system. A number of hybrids and open pollinated varieties have been released for cultivation till date, specifically to suit different seasons across India both at the national level by the ICAR and at the state level by State Agricultural Universities (SAUs). Remarkable progress has been achieved during the next five decades by diversifying the parental lines for yield, maturity, height, disease and insect tolerance, and quality by utilizing indigenous and exotic germplasm. Genetic improvement in plant type and resistance to stresses in a systematic manner has resulted in the development and release of more than 80 improved cultivars at the national level and more than 200 at state level with traits of high grain yield, biotic and abiotic stress resistance, fodder types, sweet sorghum genotypes etc. Popularity of many of these released cultivars is a standing testimony of success of Indian sorghum program not only in terms of yield enhancement, but also in terms of diversification of parental lines and progressive advances in incorporation of resistance against major pests and diseases. Improved cultivars, particularly in rainy season hybrids, rapidly became the primary component of production systems due to assured higher productivity, wider adaptability, short duration with response to applied nutrients, acceptability to farmers, and effective seed production support from public and private sectors. The publication on “50 Years of Sorghum Research-Contribution of AICRP-Sorghum Centres” which is released to commemorate completion of 50 years of research under AICRP-Sorghum is an attempt to compile historical aspects of all the AICRP-Sorghum centres. This includes, the staff worked since inception, contributions of each centre in terms of improved cultivars, technologies developed and publications made. This compilation helps as a reference point to understand the contributions of all the AICRP-Sorghum centers. CONTENTS S. No. Co-operating Centre Page 1 Fifty years of research and development under All-India Coordinated Research 1 Project on Sorghum 2 High Yielding Sorghum Cultivars Released at State Level 21 3 Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidhyapeeth, Akola 35 4 Regional Agricultural Research Station, UAS-Dharwad, Bijapur 52 5 Agricultural Research Station, UAS-Bengaluru, Chamarajanagara 69 6 Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 71 7 Sorghum Research Station, S.D. Agricultural University, Deesa 91 8 University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad 93 9 Agricultural Research Station, UAS-Dharwad, Hagari 109 10 Choudhary Charan Singh Hisar Agricultural University, Hisar 114 11 College of Agriculture, RVSKVV, Indore 125 12 Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 142 13 Regional Agricultural Research Station, ANGRAU, Nandyal 145 14 Regional Agricultural Research Station, PJTSAU, Palem 149 15 G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar 154 16 Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani 176 17 Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri 180 18 Main Sorghum Research Station, Navsari Agricultural University, Surat 195 19 Agricultural Research Station, PJTSAU, Tandur 209 20 Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur 215 Golden Jubilee Publication: 50 Years of Sorghum Research Fifty years of research and development under All-India Coordinated Research Project on Sorghum V A Tonapi, C Aruna, B Venkatesh Bhat, R Madhusudhana, AV Umakanth, K Hariprasanna, B Gangaiah, G Shyam Prasad, IK Das, M Elangovan, RR Chapke Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad Sorghum is one of the main staple food crops for the world’s poorest and most food insecure people across the semi-arid tropics. Globally, sorghum is cultivated in 42 million hectares producing 59.3 million tons at an average productivity hovering around 1.41 tons per hectare (FAOSTAT 2018). With exceptions in some regions, it is mainly produced and consumed by poor farmers and populations. In India, sorghum was one of the major cereal staples during 1950’s and occupied an area of more than 18 million hectares that has come down to 4.96 million hectares (FAOSTAT 2018). This decline has altered the cropping systems and also the food security of dry land regions of the country. All India total sorghum production has registered a constant growth rate of 0.10% per annum during the period 1967-68 to 2011-2012 which can be mainly attributed to production of kharif sorghum rather than positive growth in rabi sorghum production. Though kharif sorghum yield growth rates were relatively higher, it could not offset the declining growth rates in production, as the growth rates in kharif sorghum area were negative and high. Just opposite is true in case of rabi sorghum where the area decline was not sufficient to undermine the yield growth, thus resulting in positive production growth rates. Among the states, Maharashtra alone recorded positive growth in production during both kharif and rabi seasons, while Karnataka registered a positive growth rate in rabi production. Gujarat recorded highest growth in yield of 3.72%, despite highest decline in kharif area. Based on the performance of sorghum in Maharashtra, it appears that relatively it has a promising future during both kharif and rabi. However, the loss in both area and production is greater in kharif sorghum than in rabi. The coverage with high yielding varieties (HYVs) of sorghum is nearly 80% in kharif and potential under moderate inputs is also high (4-6 t ha-1). In the rice fallows, under zero tillage conditions, grain productivity is as high as 7 to 8 tons per hectare. The area loss may be due to the expansion in irrigation which has made other crops such as rice, sugarcane, cotton, etc., more attractive and remunerative thus rendering sorghum to be less competitive. The decline in consumption demands of sorghum grain is also a major factor for the decline in area. The increased productivity of sorghum has not been able to compensate for the loss in area turning the production to be negative. However, the suitability of the improved varieties of sorghum to specific niches and local farming conditions remains unresolved. The major thrust, in future, will be on enhancing alternate uses of sorghum and its utilization as a major food, feed, fodder, and fuel (bio-energy) crop for industrial utilization. Realizing the importance of multi-location testing in varietal development, ICAR established All-India Coordinated Sorghum Improvement Project (AICSIP) in December 1969 at IARI in New Delhi, with 11 cooperating centres distributed in different State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) across sorghum growing regions of the country. The main objective of the project was to conduct multi-location research towards grain and forage