Sweetfuel Project Methodology Breeding for marginal soils
WP3: Breeding for low-fertility environments
The general objective of this WP is to develop new lines or hybrids of sweet sorghum with
- (i)
juicy stems with high total sugar content,
- (ii) good production of grain suitable for human or animal alimentation,
- (iii) better adaptation to soil limiting constraints and producing bagasse with a good digestibility, suitable for fodder use.
The specific objectives are:
1. Seed increase of 25 previously developed EMBRAPA sweet sorghum cultivars for distribution with beneficiaries.
2. Development of cytoplasmic male-sterile sweet sorghum lines (A and B-lines) with multiple stress (biotic and abiotic) and quality traits.
3. Development of sweet sorghum cultivars for direct utilization and as potential fertility restorer (R-lines) in hybrid combinations.
4. Development and evaluation of experimental sweet sorghum hybrids.
5. Characterization of 5 -10 of the best cultivars for PIU.
6. Incorporation of the best Al tolerant haplotype in lines and cultivars via backcrossing with MAS.
7. Evaluation of the best sweet sorghum cultivars in P phenotyping site to identify superior genotypes for P acquisition efficiency.
8. Evaluation of sweet sorghum cultivars with Al tolerance in Al phenotyping site to validate superiority of Al tolerant genotypes.
9. Development of mapping populations for reduced tillering (necessary to control number of stems per area and stem diameter and enhance juice extraction) and investigate the genetic complexity of the trait using a RILs population.
10. Mapping QTLs controlling “reduced tillering” in sorghum.
11. Development of mapping populations for juicy stem and juice sugar content and investigate the genetic complexity of the traits.
12. Mapping QTLs involved with juicy stem and juice sugar content.
13. Development of MAS protocols for the brown midrib genes (bmr6 , bmr12 , and bmr18 ) that lower lignin content in sorghum by approximately 50%.
14. Development of sweet sorghum photo insensitive A and B-lines and R-lines with appropriate sorghum maturity genes Ma5 and Ma6 to produce photo sensitive sweet sorghum hybrids.
WP3 tasks are:
Task 3.1.
Seed increase and exchanges of germplasm
Task 3.2.
Screening and validation of germplasm and varieties and hybrids
Task 3.3.
Development of new varieties and hybrids
Task 3.4.
Development of experimental materials and genetic investigation of key traits
Task 3.5.
Field evaluation
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