Environment Influence on Grain Quality of White Sorghum

1
Environment Influence on Grain Quality of White
Sorghum
J. Griess, S. Mason, D. Jackson and R. Elmore
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915
Introduction
Table 2. Hybrid effects on yield and grain
quality
Table 1. Environment effects on yield
and grain quality
Other Results

• Past food quality sorghum white grain and tan
  plant
• Limited evaluation of grain quality done
• Sorghum is important crop in the Great Plains
• Specialty markets exist for food-grade sorghum
  grain

• E X H interaction effects were present for all
  parameters, but variation was less than 10 of
  the total
• Kernel weight ranged from 1.92 to 5.50 across
  environments
• Bulk and true density had results similar to
  TADD with a range of 47 to 63 and 1.178 to 1.376
  across environments
• Yield was positively correlated with kernel
  weight, hard kernels and high starch
• Kernel hardness was positively correlated with
  starch

Objectives

• Determine the adaptation of food-grade sorghum
  hybrids to Nebraska production environments
• Determine the effect of environment on the grain
  quality of 12 food grade commercial hybrids as
  compared to non-food grade check hybrids

Conclusion
Fig. 1. Influence of maturity and grain color on
yield, TADD and starch content.

• Environment had a larger effect on parameters
  than hybrids
• Dryland in western evironments produced the
  hardest kernels
• Across environments, P84Y00 produced the highest
  yield and Macia produced the hardest kernels
• Full maturity hybrids had higher yield under
  better environment, had softer kernels and more
  starch in poorer environments
• White grained hybrids had higher yield in better
  environments, and softer kernels and more starch
  in poorer environments

Materials and Methods

• RCB experiments with 18 hybrids were planted in
  13 environments (2004 and 2005, irrigated and
  dryland, low and recommended N, and 4 locations)
• Data collected included grain yield, kernel
  weight, bulk density, true density, tangential
  abrasive dehulling devise (TADD) removal, and
  concentration of protein, starch and oil
• Data were analyzed by ANOVA, Pearson
  correlations and stability analysis of the
  environment X hybrid (E X H) interaction effects
• L.S.D. (0.05) was used for separation of main
  effect means