Effects of cytoplasm,male and female parents on biomass productivity in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)

Production of renewable fuel requires biomass sources. To meet this need, energy sorghum was identified as a potential biomass source. Hybrid sorghum development involves the use of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) and since there are multiple CMS systems, it is important to determine if any of the CMS systems has an effect on agronomic performance and biomass composition. Energy sorghum hybrids were produced using four seed and four pollinator lines, resulting in 16 hybrid genotypes in three different cytoplasms (A1, A2, and A3). These hybrids were evaluated in three environments across 2 years for agronomic and biomass composition traits. For most traits, differences among hybrids and environments accounted for most of the variation, cytoplasm did not in any trait. These results indicated that different CMS systems can be used for energy sorghum hybrids without affecting yield or composition.