ABSTRACT Multi-environment trials are routinely used to screen sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) hybrids for quantitative traits, such as grain yield (GY) and days to mid-anthesis (DY). By nature, quantitative traits are greatly affected by environmental effects, and it is common that hybrids have unequal relative performance across environments. Referred to as genotype by environment (G×E) interaction effects, unequal relative performance hinders the selection of superior hybrids. This study assesses the efficacy of including G×E effects into genomic prediction models of sorghum hybrid performance for GY and DY across environments. Testcross hybrids from two B-line populations were evaluated across multiple environments to generate predictions in four different cross validation (CV) schemes. These were CV1, individual environment predictions; CV2, multi-environment predictions where the predicted hybrids were not observed in any environment; CV3, multi-environment predictions where the predicted hybrids were sparsely tested across environments; and CV4, where a grand best linear unbiased estimate (BLUE) of hybrid performance across environments was predicted. The inclusion of G×E effects into genomic prediction models was no more predictive under a CV2 scheme than individual environment genomic prediction models (CV1). However, genomic prediction models that included G×E effects in a CV3 scheme improved prediction accuracies for both GY and DY. The overall predictive ability of CV4 was also higher than that of CV1 and CV2, but there was no clear difference between CV4 and CV3. The results herein provide a framework on how genomic prediction can be incorporated in sorghum breeding programs to predict quantitative traits and increase genetic gain.
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