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Studies on the physiological determinants of grain yield in five varieties of sorghum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

R. W. Willey  and
D. R. Basiime
R. W. Willey
Affiliation:
Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda
D. R. Basiime
Affiliation:
Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda
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Summary

Experiments are described in which the relative importance of head storage capacity and carbohydrate supply was examined in five sorghum varieties of different heights. The varieties were: Namatera (270 cm), Dobbs (180 cm), MUS 78 (100 cm), MUS 23 (85 cm) and MUS 70 (85 cm). Techniques used were (i) cutting off part of the head or part of the leaf at anthesis, (ii) shading during different periods of development, and (iii) thinning the plants at different physiological stages. Varietal differences ranged from a situation where the head was little more than half-filled by the available carbohydrate (MUS 78), through intermediate stages (Dobbs and Namatera), to a situation where the head capacity limited the amount of carbohydrate which could be stored (MUS 23 and MUS 70). Some differences could be attributed to pre-anthesis competition between head and stem, but in the dwarfs a more important factor appeared to be pre-anthesis competition between head and leaf. It is suggested that for maximum efficiency of grain-yield production, maximum carbohydrate should be utilized for pre-anthesis head and leaf growth and that partitioning between these plant parts should be such that the supply of carbohydrate for grain filling is in balance with head storage capacity.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , December 1973 , pp. 537 - 548
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1973

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References

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