Effects of the genotype and environment interaction on sugar accumulation in sweet sorghum varieties (Sorghum bicolor -{L.}- Moench) grown in the lowland tropics of Colombia

• Main Authors: Jaime Humberto Bernal, Gustavo A. Ligarreto M., Ruby Stella Hernández
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centro Editorial of Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2014-12-01
• Series: Agronomía Colombiana
• Subjects: Poaceae; distribucion de asimilados; biocombustibles; cultivos energeticos; tropico bajo
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0120-99652014000300002&lng=en&tlng=en

Sugar production in sweet sorghums is affected by the environment. Therefore, in this study on the effects of the genotype x environment interaction on sugar accumulation, plant traits associated with the sugar content in the stem were evaluated in ten sorghum genotypes grown in six contrasting environments. The results indicated that the stem dry weight, juice sugar concentration (°Brix), stem sugar content and juice volume were controlled by the genetic constitution of the genotype, with a large environmental contribution to their expression. The results allowed for the identification of the sweet sorghum genotypes that have a high potential for the biofuel agroindustry due to their high sugar contents in the environmental conditions of Palmira, Espinal, Cerete and Codazzi. Humid tropical environments such as Gaitan and Villavicencio were less favorable for the competitive production of sweet sorghums for bioethanol due to their low levels of solar radiation and soil fertility.