Registration of ‘CI0947bmr’ Sorghum

The sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] cultivar CI0947bmr (Reg. No. CV-137, PI 672153) was jointly developed and released by the Centro Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria y Forestal (CENTA) research program in El Salvador and the Texas AM sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] and maize (Zea mays L.) play a major role in meeting the feed requirements of dairy cattle in most crop–livestock farming systems in El Salvador, and quantity and quality of feed heavily influence milk productivity (Villacis, 2012). Most livestock producers in this region are small and have limited land resources. Consequently, most Central American countries import some of the dairy and meat products needed to meet the demands of an increasing population. In addition, the environmental conditions in Central America make the production of high-quality forage challenging. First, the tropical environment hosts significant pest and pathogens that attack and reduce both yield and quality if they are not managed. Second, the seasonality of rainfall limits forage production during the dry season. The rainy period occurs between mid-May and mid-July; this season is the most productive for crops. A second cropping season is completed in the transitional period of August to November as rainfall frequency and amount drop and eventually stop until the following May. While not as productive as the rainy season, forage production is still important in the dry season. Forage quality in Central America is low, and there remains a real need to improve it. Given the limited resources in the region, any improvement should be inherent to the Published in Journal of Plant Registrations Vol. 8 No. 3 (2014), p. 257-261; doi: 10.3198/jpr2013.10. 0065crc Copyright © Crop Science Society of America. Used by permission. Submitted October 10, 2013; published July 25, 2014. Registration of ‘CI0947bmr’ Sorghum O. R. Portillo,1 R. Clara-Valencia,2 J. Ramirez,3 R. Estebez,2 M. Hernandez,2 A. Moran,4 R. Obando,5 N. Gutierrez,5 R. Tinoco-Mora,6 N. De Gracia,7 D. Herrera,7 L. Tedeschi,8 and W. L. Rooney1 1 Department of Soil & Crop Sciences, Texas AM Saballos et al., 2008). To date, bmr sorghum cultivars have not been developed in Central America, where local adaptation is critical for productivity and their presence in varieties is critical as most producers do not have the economic means to use hybrids. To meet this need, a breeding initiative to integrate the brown midrib trait into sorghum adapted to Central American was begun at the Centro Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria y Forestal (CENTA) in El Salvador in collaboration with the US-AID funded INTSORMIL project. The goal of this program was to develop a bmr sorghum cultivar adapted to Central America. From this program, the sorghum cultivar CI0947bmr (Reg. No. CV-137, PI 672153) was identified and released because it possesses the unique combination of agronomic adaptation, biomass and grain yield, and improved forage quality due to the presence of the brown midrib trait. This cultivar is selfpollinated, and seed can be saved by the producer to maintain production. CI0947bmr provides Central American crop and livestock producers with a sorghum cultivar with improved forage quality forage and high yield potential.