Genetic Variability, Heritability, and Genetic Advance for Ethanol Yield and Yield Components in Sweet Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor Var. Saccharatum (L.)

Abstract

Sweet sorghum is a strong candidate for a cheap and renewable source of energy and play a vital role for the uplift of socio-economic status of the farmers of Turkey through the development of high yielding varieties along with a reasonable amount of fodder and biofuel production. The objective of this research was to evaluate the potential of sweet sorghum as a source for fodder and biofuel production, also the magnitude of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance for yield and contributing characters of forty-nine sweet sorghum genotypes. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with four replications in Turkey. Analysis of variance revealed that there are highly significant differences among the genotypes in all investigated traits indicating the presence of variability. The genotypes Smith and Batem-3 with high juice, sugar and ethanol yield can be used for breeding of biofuel production in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. High heritability accompanied with high genetic advance was observed for the flowering day, fresh biomass weight, stem fresh weight, juice volume, estimated sugar yield, and estimated ethanol yield. Therefore, these characters could be used for the development of high yielding sorghum varieties through selection in a breeding program.