Location: Tropical Crops and Germplasm Research
Project Number: 6090-21000-063-005-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Oct 1, 2022
End Date: May 30, 2023
Objective:
The goal of this project is to use the breeding resources at Zamorano University (ZU), Honduras, Quisqueya University (QU), Haiti and at the USDA-ARS-TARS, Mayaguez , PR to develop new sorghum varieties for the dry corridor of Honduras. Since 2013, sugarcane aphids [Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner)] have become a significant pest in all sorghum growing areas of Central and North America and the Caribbean. In addition to this insect pest, a longer dry season, caused by changes in climate weather patterns, has affected sorghum production in these regions. The development of drought tolerant and sugarcane aphid resistant sorghum varieties is essential to improve smallholder farmer incomes and enhance food security of the region. Superior sorghum germplasm has been identified at both ZU and QU and through a collaborative project with USDA-ARS-TARS it will be possible accelerate the release of new sorghum varieties and enhance the genetic diversity of the ZU breeding program.
Approach:
Five lines (Sureño, PCR 3-22, Blanco Tortillero, DICTA 29 and CENTA RCY) from Zamorano University have been previously identified as drought tolerant and resistant to sugarcane aphids. These lines will be used as parental material in a diallel mating system to provide a total of 10 F1 progenies. The derived F2 generations from these progenies will be evaluated for drought tolerance and sugarcane aphids to select the most superior germplasms. This selection process will be repeated until the F5 generations to identify the most superior lines. In parallel, a subset of 200 lines from Quisqueya University (Haiti) sorghum breeding programs will be evaluated in replicated trials at two locations in Honduras to identify the most valuable lines for the ZU breeding program. These selected lines will be phenotypically screened for drought tolerance, sugarcane aphid resistance and agronomic traits to select the most superior lines. The genetic characterization of the Quisqueya University sorghum breeding populations and the phenotypic characterization completed in Honduras will allow to apply genomic selection to identify other superior lines adapted for the geographical region of Honduras. These multi-institution collaborations will broaden the genetic base and accelerate the development of new lines for Central America and the Caribbean, as well as to enhance the genetic diversity of US sorghum breeding programs.
