Agronomic characters evaluation of sweet sorghum bicolor (l.) moench mutants

Sorghum is an annual crop with a lot of varieties. Recently, sweet sorghum is recognized as a potential new generation bioenergy crop because of its potential to accumulate sugar (10-15%) in its stalk similar to sugarcane, apart from producing grains. This study aims to evaluate agronomic characters including sugar contents of M3 and M4 population of sweet sorghum mutants derived from Numbu variety. The mutants were produced by combining invitro culture with induced mutation using gamma ray irradiation. The study was conducted at ICABIOGRAD Experiment Station (KP Cikeumeuh) in Bogor-Indonesia from July 2015 to June 2016. The study was arranged in augmented, the selection of selected lines for the next test material was based on agronomic characteristics of plant height, stem diameter and sugar Brix, which were superior to its parents, namely Numbu. The selection of selected lines for the next test material is based on agronomic characteristics of plant height, stem diameter and sugar Brix, which is superior to its parents, namely Numbu. Evaluation and selection in M3 and M4 population were focused on important agronomic characters such as plant height, stem diameter, stem sugar content, panicle length and weight, and yield/plant. The results indicated that 13 mutants having higher plant, bigger stem diameter, higher Brix value, seed production and higher yield/plant than their parent, Numbu. Have been selected from M3 and M4 population the selected mutants (M5) will be used further for yield trials.