General combining abilities and stability analysis of grain sorghum hybrids made across public and private sector breeding programs

Authors: WINANS, NOAH - Texas A&M University; BURKS, PAYNE - S&w Seed Company; PERUMAL, RAMASAMY - Kansas State University; Hayes, Chad; ROONEY, WILLIAM - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/14/2025
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: This study underscores the critical role of grain sorghum, particularly in drought-prone areas of the United States. Historically, public sector programs have significantly advanced sorghum breeding. This research evaluated the productivity of over 1200 hybrids from both public and private breeding programs across various environments. Results showed that hybrids from different programs yielded the highest, emphasizing the benefits of inbred exchange. The findings advocate for increased germplasm exchange between public and private sectors, encouraging private companies to integrate public sector advancements into their breeding programs.

Technical Abstract: Grain sorghum is an important crop worldwide and in the United States it is typically grown in drought prone environments. Sorghum has a rich history of public sector improvement by programs at Texas A&M University, Kansas State University, and the USDA-ARS amongst others. The discovery and development of hybrid grain sorghum in the 1950s privatized much of the sorghum breeding industry, but the public sector continues to make contributions to sorghum improvement. To continue this effort, there is a need to assess the relative merits of different sorghum programs and their complementation. Within this context, this study evaluated the productivity of grain sorghum hybrids made across and within three public and one private sector breeding program. The parents consisted of twelve elite pollinators and twelve elite seed parents from each program crossed in a partial factorial to create over 1200 hybrids that were grown in 25 sparse trials from south Texas through northern Kansas in 2022 and 2023. The highest yielding hybrids were consistently produced using inbreds from different programs which indicates that inbred exchange can increase hybrid productivity. In addition, the value of specific adaptation to the south Texas mega-environment was demonstrated by the strong performance from hybrids made between Texas A&M, USDA-ARS, and S&W Seed Company material. The study herein highlights the value of germplasm exchange between private and public sector and should encourage private sector companies to explore the value of incorporating public material into their program.