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 Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research: Lubbock, TX
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ARS Home Plains Area Lubbock, Texas Cropping Systems Research Laboratory Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research Docs







OBJECTIVE 1: Subobjective1Aheadline bar /ARSUserFiles/30960510/YE.jpg Yves Emendack Research Plant PhysiologistPlant Stress and Germplasm Development Research Yves.Emendack@ars.usda.gov Phone: (806) 749-5560  Fax: (806) 723-5272
 /ARSUserFiles/30960510/Chad.png Chad Hayes Research Geneticist (Plants)Plant Stress and Germplasm Development ResearchChad.Hayes@ars.usda.govPhone: (806) 749-5560 ext. 5219Fax: (806) 723-5272
 **OBJECTIVE 1:**Discover and characterize superior traits from natural collections and a mutant population to enhance abiotic stress tolerance, yield potential, and stability of grain, forage, and bioenergy sorghum.   **Subobjective1A:**  Identify new sources of thermal tolerance within diverse Ethiopian germplasm (Emendack, Hayes) **Rationale****:****Cold tolerance is a trait highly recommended by sorghum growers. It allows sorghum to exploit the soil moisture in early season, enables a longer growing period to produce higher biomass, and early canopy development for weed control.**Recent problems with the sugarcane aphid (SCA) in grain sorghum has **also** influenced producers to plant earlier in the growing season to avoid major SCA infestations later in the season.  There is a need in the sorghum industry for hybrids that germinate and grow under cooler soil temperatures. The planned research will identify both cold germination and vigor traits within Ethiopian germplasm. **Goal****:**Identify sources of early season cold tolerance among Ethiopian accessions **Research Approach****:** **Selection of germplasm.**A collection of 352 Ethiopian sorghum accessions previously studied will be used for initial cold tolerant screening.  **The Ethiopian collection is a diverse and rich germplasm resource. Preliminary results indicate that significant variation exists for cold tolerance in the Ethiopian collection****screening****.**  The Ethiopian accessions will most likely be photoperiod sensitive and, therefore, will need to be grown in a short day environment (winter nursery) for seed increase. A single seed source is also extremely valuable because variations in seed quality can greatly influence agronomic results, especially seed germination and early plant vigor. ****


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