Stay-green trait in sorghum

Stay-green trait in sorghum

The Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries (QPIF) sorghum breeding program has developed a paper which describes the value and impact of the trait stay-green in sorghum. Dr David Jordan presents information in the paper which is based on more than twenty years of QPIF experience with the stay-green trait. The information presented has particular relevance to the Queenland and northern New South Wales production systems. 

You can download a copy of the paper from here (205 KB).

Key messages from the paper include:

  • "Stay-green can have a major impact on reducing lodging in sorghum but is not the only mechanism of lodging resistance.
  • "Stay-green is associated with increased grain yield and grain size in sorghum crops subjected to the type of post flowering drought commonly experienced in Australia.
  • "Stay-green hybrids do not appear to suffer a significant yield penalty when grown under high yield conditions.
  • "Stay-green hybrids may require different harvest management to conventional sorghum hybrids."

With respect to harvest management, the paper concludes that "further research is required to determine the best practices to manage harvest in these [highly stay-green] hybrids."

 

Questions? Contact Dr David Jordan or Dr Andrew Borrell: +61 7 4660 3666.