Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Grain Quality and Structure Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #282706
Title: Yield and morpho-agronomical evaluation of food-grade white sorghum hybrids grown in Southern Italy

Author
item PONTIERI, PAOLA - Institute Of Plant Genetics
item DE VITA, PASQUALE - Institute Of Genetics And Biophysics "adriano Buzzati-Traverso"
item BOFFA, ANTONIO - Institute Of Plant Genetics
item TUINSTRA, MITCH - Purdue University
item Bean, Scott
item KRISHNAMOORTHY, GABRIEL - Richard Seeds, Ltc
item MILLER, CHARLES - Richard Seeds, Ltc
item ROEMER, EARL - Nu Life Market
item ALIFANO, PIETRO - University Of Lecce
item PIGNONE, DOMENICO - Institute Of Plant Genetics
item MASSARDO, DOMENICA - Institute Of Plant Genetics
item DEL GIUDICE, LUIGI - Institute Of Plant Genetics

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Interactions
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/25/2012
Publication Date: 7/19/2012
Citation: Pontieri, P., De Vita, P., Boffa, A., Tuinstra, M.R., Bean, S., Krishnamoorthy, G., Miller, C., Roemer, E., Alifano, P., Pignone, D., Massardo, D.R., Del Giudice, L. 2012. Yield and morpho-agronomical evaluation of food-grade white sorghum hybrids grown in Southern Italy. Journal of Plant Interactions. 7(4):1-7.

Interpretive Summary: Grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a gluten-free grain that is gaining attention as a food crop that can be used in the management of celiac disease. At present, sorghum is widely grown in many semiarid regions of the world. New food-grade sorghum cultivars are of particular interest in Mediterranean countries due to improved quality characteristics and gluten-free status of the grains. Until now very few studies have examined the grain yield and agronomic performance characteristics of food-grade sorghum hybrids in Italy. In general, early flowering hybrids were found to perform better than late flowering hybrids in southern Italy. These results will help the production of sorghum in Mediterranean regions.

Technical Abstract: Grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a gluten-free grain that is gaining attention as a food crop that can be used in the management of celiac disease. At present, sorghum is widely grown in many semiarid regions of the world. New food-grade sorghum cultivars are of particular interest in Mediterranean countries due to improved quality characteristics and gluten-free status of the grains. Until now very few studies have examined the grain yield and agronomic performance characteristics of food-grade sorghum hybrids in Italy. A two-year study was conducted to evaluate the performance of eight food-grade sorghum hybrids representing different maturity classes in trials conducted in Southern Italy. The results showed wide variation in adaptation of these hybrids as measured by differences in grain yield (2.35 to 8.50 t ha-1) and other pheno-morphological characteristics. Of particular interest was the fact that many of the early-flowering hybrids (e.g. SP-X303) performed better than the later-flowering hybrids (e.g. ArchX-02). These results demonstrated that hybrid maturity and crop cycle length are important factors to consider in selecting cultivars for production in the Mediterranean region.