Abstract
Sorghum is an important staple food crop in Kenya, but its yield is low due to many constraints which include diseases, drought, soil fertility, and pests, notably parasitic weed Striga hermonthica. Twenty elite sorghum genotypes and one resistant check were evaluated in three replications in a complete randomized design in Agar Gel (AG) experiment and randomized complete block design on selected Striga hotspot farms at Kadel and Nyahera in western Kenya. Significant differences (p<0.001) were realized both in the fields (plant height, dry shoot biomass yield, grain yield, field Striga count, and Striga damage ratings) and in the AG experiment with respect to maximum germination distance and numbers of induced germinated Striga seeds. Among the sorghum genotypes evaluated under field conditions, T53B, N57, N68, C26, IESV 92036-SH, T30B, and Uyoma 47 White genotypes had stable yields under Striga infestation in the two sites, whereas Nyadundo 1, Nyadundo 2, and Uyoma 8 were susceptible. In the AG experiment, E117B, T30B, Uyoma 8, Uyoma 42 STR, and T53B induced high numbers of germinated Striga seeds with maximum germination distances (MGD). In contrast, Uyoma 47 Brown, IESV 92038/2-SH, and IESV 92036-SH sorghum genotypes secreted low amounts of SLS suggesting resistance. This study has identified and selected four Striga tolerant (T53B, N68, N57, and T 30B) and resistant (C 26, Uyoma 47 Brown, IESV 92038/2-SH, and IESV 92036-SH) sorghum genotypes which can be utilized in further research programs or adopted to improve sorghum productivity in the highly Striga infested regions of western Kenya. Key words: Striga, sorghum genotypes, resistant, susceptible, tolerant, Agar Gel experiment
Highlights
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is the fifth most important staple food crop that can meet the increased food needs of more than 500 million people in marginal regions that still experience periodic food deficits (Aragaw et al, 2021)
In Kenya, it is grown mainly under unreliable rain-fed agriculture in Striga stricken agricultural regions of Eastern and western Kenya (Muui et al, 2019).The area under subsistence cultivation of sorghum in Kenya has increased from 240,403 ha in 2018 to 301,705 ha in 2019 (FAOSTAT 2019), this owes to the resilience of the crop and frequent maize failures experienced especially in the drought-prone agricultural regions of Kenya (Okeyo et al, 2020)
The susceptible genotypes, on the other hand, incur high yield depression due to reduced panicle sizes and often fail to reach the reproductive stage either when under severe or low Striga infestation (Dafaallah and Babiker, 2019). These observations encourages breeders to develop more resistant/tolerant sorghum cultivars to minimize Striga-related high yield losses since field observations and surveys still indicate that some genotypes grown locally by farmers are tolerant to Striga and can produce good yield even when highly infested with Striga (Joel et al, 2018)
Summary
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is the fifth most important staple food crop that can meet the increased food needs of more than 500 million people in marginal regions that still experience periodic food deficits (Aragaw et al, 2021). The susceptible genotypes, on the other hand, incur high yield depression due to reduced panicle sizes and often fail to reach the reproductive stage either when under severe or low Striga infestation (Dafaallah and Babiker, 2019) These observations encourages breeders to develop more resistant/tolerant sorghum cultivars to minimize Striga-related high yield losses since field observations and surveys still indicate that some genotypes grown locally by farmers are tolerant to Striga and can produce good yield even when highly infested with Striga (Joel et al, 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
