Morphological Characterization of Tanzanian Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench] Landraces

Abstract

Eleven qualitative and 26 quantitative morphological traits were used to determine the genetic relationships in 37 sorghum landraces from Tanzania and two from Zambia. The objectives of this study were to: determine the genetic relationships and thus establish the potential of the landraces as sources of breeding material for future sorghum improvement; and assess important agronomic traits for sorghum classification. Quantitative traits analysis revealed the potential of these landraces as a source of breeding material. Five principal components accounted for 53.64% of the total variability. Cluster analysis revealed two major distinct groups each with two subgroups. There were positive and significant correlations between days to maturity and leaf width (r = 0.477**), plant height (r = 0.353*), main stem diameter (r = 0.399*) and leaves per main stem (r = 0.456**). There was a high positive correlation for leaves per main stem with stem diameter (r = 0.621**) and with leaf width (0.426**). Based on the correlation analysis, it was concluded that there was a possibility of breeding for positively-correlated traits in sorghum. Information collected by this study could be utilized by sorghum breeders for sorghum improvement and classification.