J. Agric. Environ. Sci. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022) ISSN: 2616-3721 (Online); 2616-3713 (Print)
Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 14
Response of dual-purpose sorghum (Sorghum bicolour L.) varieties to anthracnose disease,
growth and yield performances under dry land crop-livestock farming systems of southern
Ethiopia
Tessema Tesfaye Atumo
1*
, Getachew Gudero Mengesha
2
1
Agronomy, Southern Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Arba Minch Research Center, P.O. Box 2228, Arba
Minch, Ethiopia
2
Crop protection, Southern Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Arba Minch Research Center, P.O. Box 2228,
Arba Minch, Ethiopia
*Corresponding author: tessema4@gmail.com
Received: March 8, 2022 Accepted: May 21, 2022
Abstract: Integration of food crop production with feed supply in quantity and quality by considering some
important foliar diseases could be an ideal approach in the crop-livestock farming system of tropical agriculture.
Evaluating the responses of dual-purpose sorghum varieties to anthracnose diseases, growth and yield
performances under the dry land farming system was undertaken in Arguba and Chamomile research substation
during the 2018 and 2019 major production seasons. Five sorghum varieties (Chelenko, A-2267_2 and NTJ_2,
Dishkara, Konoda) and one local check (Rara) were arranged factorial in a randomized complete block design with
four replications. The assessment was done on plant height, leaf number, leaf width, leaf length, tiller number, dry
biomass and grain yields, as well as on anthracnose disease infection. Variety Chelenko exhibited the tallest main
crop plant height while Dishkara was the tallest at ratoon crop harvesting. Rara had a higher tiller number among
the varieties. Chelenko had a higher dry biomass yield at the main crop while Dishkara at ratoon harvesting. The
total dry biomass yield recorded by Dishkara, Chelenko A-2267_2, Rara, NTJ_2 and Konoda varieties was 45.3,
33.3, 31.8, 29.8 21.7 and 18.5 t/ha, respectively. Dry biomass yield was strongly and positively correlated with plant
height. The varieties A-2267_2 and NTJ_2 recorded Anthracnose incidence of 98.90 and 100%, respectively while
the severity was about 43.67 and 40.36% in the same order. Similarly, the area under disease progress curves for
A-2267_2 and NTJ_2 varieties were 860 and 1085.27%-days, respectively. Dishkara and Chelenko varieties
produced 45.3 t/ha and 33.3 t/ha dry biomass yields, which were 33.6% and 9.6%, respectively, higher (P<0.05)
compared to the overall mean dry biomass yield (30.1 t/ha). On the other hand, the Konoda variety produced about
62.7% (18.5 t/ha) less dry biomass yield than the overall mean dry biomass yield. Although the anthracnose
infection was highest in the varieties Konoda and NTJ_2, they produced significantly (P<0.001) higher grain yield
(3.89 t/ha) than others. Under anthracnose pressure, Chelenko and Dishkara varieties are suggested for dry
biomass yield while NTJ_2 for grain yield production in the study area and areas with similar agro-ecologies.
Further research on the performance of the varieties under irrigation conditions and the inclusion of their feed
quality is also recommended.
Keywords: Animal feed, AUDPC, biomass yield, disease incidence, disease severity
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
1. Introduction
Regenerating perennial pastures which could survive
for years are a major element in successful livestock
enterprises (Collet, 2004). Sorghum (Sorghum
bicolour) is inherently producing high biomass
accumulation, high productivity per unit of water
utilized and ratoon crop after harvesting of the plant
(Vinutha et al., 2017). The crop is truly grown for
dual purposes for both feed Stover and grain that are
highly valued infrequent drought areas (Balmuri et
al., 2018). Sorghum is the third most important crop
in the study area next to tef and maize and is the
fourth important crop in terms of area coverage and
volume of production in Ethiopia (MOA, 2016)
J. Agric. Environ. Sci. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022) ISSN: 2616-3721 (Online); 2616-3713 (Print)
Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 15
which has been produced by 5 million smallholder
farmers in 2 million hectares with a production of 4.3
million tons and grain productivity of 2 t/ha (CSA,
2018).
The importance of sorghum as a feed crop in the
semi-arid tropics and drier parts of the world has
been proven where livestock rearing takes a part in
the agricultural production system (Mohammed,
2010). Forage sorghum has been characterized as a
sweet tall plant from 1.9 to 2.7 meters (Vinutha et al.,
2017) and adapted to a ratoon production system. It is
best utilized as a silage crop, although it can be
grazed or cut for hay if managed appropriately and
improve fiber supplement for digestion in milking
cows (Hassan et al., 2015). According to Vinutha et
al. (2017), the quality of forage sorghum in terms of
nitrogen content for 36 lines was ranging from 2.06%
to 2.89% with the production of above-ground dry
biomass up to 33.8 t/ha. Structural carbohydrates and
starch are the main energy resources that are
accumulated in the grain and dry biomass of cereal
crops, and they are important for dairy cows
(Mohammed, 2010). However, anthracnose
(Colletotrichum graminicola) (Madhusudhana, 2019)
and turcicum (Exserohilum turcicum) leaf blight
(TLB) (Kiran and Patil, 2019) diseases are the most
destructive and affect all aerial tissues of the plant
and can cause dry matter and seed yield losses of up
to 50% in severely affected fields of sorghum.
In Ethiopia, the feed balance has been reported
negative in terms of dry matter at 21.2%, feed
metabolizable energy at 51.7% and crude protein at
9.5% whereas in southern Ethiopia including the
experimental locations dry matter is 40.3%,
metabolizable energy at 62.6% and crude protein
57.9% (Shapiro et al., 2015). Negative feed balance
in terms of dry matter and forage quality has been
affecting animal production in the Ethiopian
livestock system (Atumo et al., 2022).
Therefore, the objectives of the present study were to
assess forage dry biomass yield, grain yield, agro-
morphological traits, and leaf to stem ratio of main
and ratoon sorghum varieties under the pressure of
anthracnose disease, as well as to determine the
intensity of anthracnose on the tested six sorghum
varieties associated with their growth and yield
performances under field conditions in Chamomile
and Arguba trial locations, southern Ethiopia. This is
particularly to help smallholder farmers in using the
most productive dual-purpose sorghum varieties in
terms of forage and grain yield under the pressure of
major foliar diseases to be resistant to alternative
varieties for food production and supplying feed to
their livestock in particular circumstances and to
provide background data for planning future breeding
programs.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Description of study areas
Evaluation of sorghum varieties for dry biomass yield
under the pressure of anthracnose disease was
conducted at Chamomile and Arguba in Arba Minch
Zuriya and Derashe special districts, respectively, of
southern Ethiopia during the 2018 and 2019 main
cropping seasons. The two study sites are situated in
the semi-arid tropical belt of southern Ethiopia.
Geographically, the Chamomile site is located at
06°06´ N latitude and 37°35´ E longitude, while the
Arguba site is located at 05°30´ N latitude and 37°12´
E longitude. Chamomile and Arguba sites are laid at
an altitude of 1206 and 1260 meters above sea levels,
respectively.
The two experimental sites have a bimodal rainfall
pattern. The short rainy season falls from March to
May and the long rainy season extends from June to
November. Chamomile and Arguba receive mean
annual precipitation of 937.9 and 1009.2 mm with
average maximum and minimum temperatures of
30.3 and 17.3
0
C, and 27.31 and 18.93
0
C,
respectively (NMA, 2021). Monthly distributions of
mean rainfall and average maximum and minimum
temperatures of Arguba and Chamomile experimental
sites for 30 years (1989 to 2019) are presented in
Figures 1 and 2, respectively.
According to the analysis results of the collected
composite (0–30 cm) sample, soil of Chanomile site
was categorized as sandy loam and had 14.47 mg/kg,
0.29%, 1.19% and 1.63% available phosphorus, total
nitrogen organic carbon and organic matter,
respectively, with the pH of 6.2 (Atumo et al., 2021).
Similarly the soil of Arguba site was categorized to
textural classification of sandy loam and had
available phosphorus, total nitrogen, organic carbon
J. Agric. Environ. Sci. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022) ISSN: 2616-3721 (Online); 2616-3713 (Print)
Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 16
and organic matter of 14.5 mg/kg, 0.31%, 1.22% and 1.72%, respectively, with the pH of 6.15.
Figure 1: Rainfall, minimum and maximum temperatures of Arguba site during the last 30 years (1989-2019)
Figure 2: Rainfall, minimum and maximum temperatures of Chamomile site during the last 30 years (1989-2019)
2.2. Description of experimental materials
A total of six dual-purpose sorghum genotypes were
used for the study. While the seeds of Chelenko, A-
2267_2 and NTJ_2 varieties were collected from
Melkasa Agricultural Research Center (MARC),
seeds of the remaining Dishkara and Konoda
varieties and one local check (Rara) were collected
from farmers in Derashe special district (Table 1).
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Temperature (oC)
Rainfall (mm)
Rainfall Tmax Tmin
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Temperature (
o
C)
Rainfall (mm)
Rainfal Tmax Tmin
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Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 17
Table 1: Sorghum varieties used in the study
Variety
Adaptation
area
Release
year
Remark
A_2276_2
<1600
-
Chelenko
<1600
2005
(MOA, 2016)
Dishkara
1200-1700
-
Farmer cultivar
Konoda
1200-1700
-
Farmer cultivar
NTJ_2
<1600
-
Rara
1200-1700
-
Farmer cultivar
2.3. Experimental design and procedures
At both experimental sites, the six varieties were laid
out in a randomized complete block design with four
replications. The Gross and net sizes of experimental
plots were 2.4 m*3 m (7.2 m
2
) and 1.2 m* 3m (3.6
m
2
), respectively. Spacing between experimental
plots and replications were 1m and 1.5m,
respectively.
After ploughing the selected experimental plots with
oxen, the plots were prepared and leveled manually
with the help of necessary farm tools. The six
sorghum varieties were allocated to the experimental
plots randomly using a randomized complete block
design method.
Seed sowing was carried out from late March to early
April 2018 and 2019. Seeds were sown in a row at
inter-and intra-spacing of 60 cm by 25 cm,
respectively. To avoid the risk of failing seedling
emergence, two seeds were planted per hill and the
weak seedlings were thinned out after 40 days of
planting to maintain only a single plant per hill.
Experimental plots were fertilized with NPS (19% N,
37% P
2
O
5
, 7% S) at the rate of 100 kg/ha during
planting time, and with Urea (46% N) at the rate of
100 kg/ha in two splits as the first half top-dressed on
the 45
th
days of planting and the remaining half
applied after initial harvest for ratoon initiation
(MOA, 2016). Experimental plots were kept weed-
free with frequent hand weeding.
2.4. Data collection
2.4.1. Growth and yield parameters
Data collection for forage and grain yields from the
main crop was performed by cutting plants at ground
level in the net plot area after physiological maturity.
The second harvesting from the ratoon crop was done
after 105 days of the first harvest of the main crop.
Both fresh and dry biomass yields, as well as grain
yield obtained from the net plot area, were converted
into a hectare basis. Apart from the collection of
forage and grain yields, data on vegetative growth
parameters were collected timely. Plant height was
measured at a date of 50% flowering from ground
level to the tip of the plant with the linear meter. The
number of leaves per plant was counted, as well as
length and width of leaves in the middle of the plants
were measured with linear meters at the forage
harvesting time of both ratoon and main crops. Tillers
per plant were also counted from both main and
ratoon crops just before harvesting. However, growth
performance parameters of Dishakara and Konoda
varieties at Chanomile site during the 2019 growing
season couldn’t be collected due seed emergence
problems.
Green forage yield per net plot area was measured
using a spring balance and expressed as fresh
biomass yield per hectare. The sample was taken to
the laboratory and subjected to oven drying at 65°C
for 24 hours to get constant dry weight. After
cooling, the samples were weighed with sensitive
balance and expressed as dry biomass yield. Dry
biomass yields were estimated by multiplying fresh
biomass yields with the dry matter percentage of
respective samples. Dry matter of the samples and
dry biomass yield of both main crop and ratoon crops
were determined using the formulas below as
indicated by Tarawali et al. (1995):
[1]
Where
DM = dry matter percent, ODW = oven dry weight,
FW = fresh weight of a sample (500 g)
[2]
Where
DBY = dry biomass yield, FBY = fresh biomass
yield, DM% = dry matter content in percent
2.4.2. Disease monitoring
Anthracnose incidence and severity assessments were
started 40 and 45 days after planting at Arguba and
Chamomile sites in the 2018 and 2019 cropping
seasons, respectively, when the first symptom of
anthracnose appeared on plant leaves within the plot.
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Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 18
Twelve randomly selected and tagged sorghum plants
from the central rows of each plot were used for
disease assessment and a total of six assessments
were made per location per season.
Disease incidence (%) was determined by the rating
of diseased plants per total number of plants assessed
within the plot. Anthracnose severity was visually
assessed from 15 pre-tagged plants per plot following
the scale devised by Thakur et al. (2007), where, 1 =
no visible symptoms or presence of chlorotic flecks,
2 = 1 - 10% leaf area covered with hypersensitive
lesions without acervuli, 3 = 11 - 25% leaf area
covered with hypersensitive and restricted lesions
with acervuli in the center, 4 = 26 - 50% leaf area
covered with coalescing necrotic lesions with
acervuli and 5 = > 50% leaf area covered with
coalescing necrotic lesions with acervuli. Severity
scores were transformed into percentage severity
index (PSI) for analysis using the formula stated
below (Wheeler, 1969).
The area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC)
(the development of disease on a whole plant or part
of the plant during the epidemic periods) was
estimated from PSI (anthracnose) and mean
(turcicum leaf blight) values assessed on different
days after planting for each sorghum varieties within
the plot using the formula mentioned by Campbell
and Madden (1990) and indicated as below.
[4]
Where
n is the total number of disease assessments, t
i
is the
time of the i
th
assessment in days from the first
assessment date and x
i
is the PSI of disease at the i
th
assessment.
AUDPC was articulated in %-days since severity (X)
is expressed in percent and time (t) in days.
2.5. Data analysis
Genstat software (Payne et al., 2015) package was
used to compute the analysis of variance (ANOVA)
of all parameters considered in the study. Whenever
the ANOVA results were significant, the means of
the parameters were separated using Least
Significance Difference (LSD) at a 5% level of error.
The two seasons and locations were recorded as
distinct environments due to heterogeneity of error
variances in Bartlett’s test as indicated by Gomez and
Gomez (1984). Due to this, data were separately
analyzed as location and season effects. Associations
of anthracnose incidence, severity and AUDPC with
growth and yield-related traits of sorghum varieties
were examined using simple correlation analysis.
Spearman correlation coefficients (r) were used to
indicate the strength of the relationships among the
parameters.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Growth performance
3.1.1. Plant height
The plant height of sorghum varieties for the main
plant was significantly (P<0.001) varied for the
interaction of variety*location*year (Table 2). The
tallest plant height of 430 cm followed by 410.8 cm
was recorded at the Chanomile sub research
substation during the 2018 and 2019 planting season
for the variety Chelenko while the lowest plant height
of 174.3 cm was at Aruba in 2019 for the variety
NTJ_2. Ratoon crops' plant height was also
significantly (P<0.001) varied among sorghum
varieties. Dishkara (227.7 cm) recorded the highest
plant height at Chanomile followed by A-2267_2
(203.9 cm) among other varieties while the lowest
plant height was at Arguba for Rara (68.0 cm).
The plant height of the ratoon crops is presented in
Table 3. Dhishakara variety recorded significantly
(P<0.05) as the tallest ratoon crop (196.65 cm)
among the sorghum varieties while the variety Rara
recorded the shortest (110.45 cm). Moreover, the
average plant height of main crops (264.3 cm) was
greater than the ratoon crops (159.61 cm).
The plant height recorded in the present study is
generally greater than the plant heights of sorghum
varieties reported by other researchers where the
plant heights of the main and ratoon crops were 147
and 129 cm, respectively (Hassan et al., 2015). Plant
height contributes to and plays a great role in
aboveground biomass accumulation (Halim et al.,
2013). This may be due to the taller a plant, the
higher the amount of light energy absorbed and the
higher the rate of photosynthesis and consequently
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Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 19
the amount of assimilation produced by the leaves
(Ngo, 2017). Some scholars reported a higher
average plant height of ratoon crops (259 cm) than
main crops (228 cm) (Vinutha et al., 2017) for 36
sorghum lines. That may be due to the variation
among genotypes and other management options.
3.1.2. Leaf number
Chelenko variety at Chanomile site produced
significantly (P<0.001) higher (17.13) main crop leaf
number than others during 2019 followed by 14.8
leaves during 2018 (Table 2). NTJ_2 produced the
lowest number (5.73) of main crop leaves at Arguba
in 2018. The variety Chelenko at the Aruba site
produced a higher (P<0.001) ratoon leaf number
(10.73) compared to other varieties at both locations
while variety NTJ_2 recorded the lowest ratoon leaf
number (6.5) (Table 3). NTJ_2 produced the lower
leaf number in both main and ratoon crops in the
present study. Generally, the main crop produced a
higher average leaf number than the ratoon crop. In
agreement with our findings, a significant variation in
leaf number per plant of 8.4 to 10.3 was reported by
Afzal et al. (2013). The increment of leaf number
after two consecutive cuttings reported by Afzal et al.
(2013) disagrees with the findings of the present
study. Environmental conditions determine the
number of leaves ranging from 8 to 22 per plant
(Plessis, 2008) and the results of our findings is
included in this range.
3.1.3. Length and width of a leaf
The results of leaf length and width of sorghum
varieties at the main and ratoon cropping system are
presented in Tables 2 and 3, respectively. Variety
NTJ_2 produced significantly (P<0.001) wider (11.03
cm) the main crop leaves at Chanomile site in 2018
while the similar variety gave narrower plant leaves
of 6.2 cm at Arguba site in 2018. Dishkara variety
demonstrated the longest (98.2 cm) leaves at
Chamomile in 2018 among other experimental units.
A lower leaf length of 50.87 cm was observed for the
variety Konada at the Arguba site in 2019. Rara
variety demonstrated wider ratoon crop leaf followed
by Dishkara variety at Chamomile and Konoda
variety at Chamomile and Arguba sites.
The leaf length and width of a given plant are
important parameters that influence leaf area index
and thus the productivity of the given plant
(Krishnamurthy et al., 1974, Koester et al., 2014,
Schrader et al., 2021). Some varieties like NTJ_2 in
the present study demonstrating lower biomass yield
with wider leaf concurs with the results of other
researchers who stated crops having higher leaf area
demonstrate higher quality while the biomass yield
depends on the other factors (Weraduwage et al.,
2015).
3.1.4. Number of tillers per plant
The results of tiller number are presented in Table 2
for main crops and in Table 3 for ratoon crops. The
main crop tiller number per plant was significantly
(P<0.001) higher (6.73) for variety Rara at Arguba
site during the 2019 cropping season while the lower
tiller number (1.53) was recorded from variety
NTJ_2 at Chanomile site during the 2018 and 2019
production seasons. A higher ratoon tiller number
was recorded from variety NTJ_2 (11.33) followed
by the Rara variety (9.73) at the Aruba site while the
lowest tiller number was recorded from the Konoda
variety (2.07) at the Chamomile site.
In the present study, the tiller number was much
higher in the ratoon crop (4.6) compared to the main
crop (2.79), which is in line with the previous
findings of (Vinutha et al., 2017) which the tiller
number of the ratoon crop was about 5 while the
main crop recorded tiller number of 3.
3.1.5. Internode length
The results of internodes of sorghum varieties are
presented in Figure 3. There was a significant
(P<0.01) variation of internode length among
sorghum varieties in the main crop. Chelenko had
wider internodes (16.73 cm) while Dishkara (8.4 cm),
Konoda (8.4 cm) and NTJ_2 (9.53 cm) had the
shortest internodes.
Internode length contributes to the dry biomass yield
whereas varieties with the longer internodes gave
higher dry biomass yield. The varieties with taller
juicy stems with longer internodes are characterized
as forage sorghum (Havilah, 2017). Generally, the
internode lengths observed in the present study were
relatively high compared to the previous reports
where an internode length of 5 cm was reported
(Kebrom et al., 2017).
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Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 20
Table 2: Growth performance of the main crop sorghum as influenced by variety, experimental years and locations
Year
Location
Variety
PH (cm)
LNPP
LW (cm)
LL (cm)
TNPP
2018
Chanomile
A_2267_2
335.3
bcd
12.87
b-e
8.68
b-f
89.1
abc
1.93
cde
Chelenko
430.0
a
14.8
ab
9.66
abc
86.1
a-d
1.87
cde
Dishkara
335.7
bcd
11.47
d-h
9.93
abc
98.2
a
2.2
cde
Konada
398.6
gh
14.6
abc
9.95
abc
86.3
a-d
1.73
de
NTJ_2
254.7
ef
10
f-j
11.03
a
93.0
ab
1.53
e
Rara
255.4
ef
11.8
c-g
9.78
abc
85.47
a-d
2.47
cde
Arguba
A_2267_2
259.3
ef
7.53
jkl
6.70
fg
62.93
fgh
2.33
cde
Chelenko
386.1
ab
12.6
b-f
8.60
b-f
86.93
a-d
2.00
cde
Dishkara
307.9
cde
9.27
g-k
8.02
b-g
88.47
abc
2.87
cde
Konada
369.0
abc
10.27
e-j
9.13
a-e
87.67
a-d
2.27
cde
NTJ_2
177.3
gh
5.73
l
6.20
g
63.2
fgh
2.33
cde
Rara
227.9
fgh
8.53
i-l
8.45
b-g
84.13
a-e
2.6
cde
2019
Chanomile
A_2267_2
304.7
de
12.13
b-f
6.90
efg
71.53
d-g
2.47
cde
Chelenko
410.8
a
17.13
a
9.40
a-d
84.47
a-e
2.80
cde
NTJ_2
265.7
ef
10.13
e-j
9.13
a-e
79.4
b-f
1.53
e
Rara
259.7
ef
13.47
bcd
10.07
ab
92.67
ab
2.67
cde
Arguba
A_2267_2
239.2
fg
8.87
h-k
7.30
d-g
68.93
efg
2.47
cde
Chelenko
306.2
cde
13.13
bcd
8.39
b-g
83.13
a-e
2.93
cd
Dishkara
283
def
11.27
d-i
7.88
b-g
74.27
c-g
4.87
b
Konada
182.6
gh
8.37
jkl
6.43
fg
50.87
h
2.08
cde
NTJ_2
174.3
h
6.47
kl
6.93
efg
62.8
gh
3.20
c
Rara
180
gh
8.07
jkl
7.71
c-g
74.13
c-g
6.73
a
Mean
264.3
9.94
7.76
73.1
2.79
P-value
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
0.019
LSD
0.05
62.84
2.84
2.27
16.5
1.36
CV%
14.5
17.4
17.8
13.7
30.1
PH = plant height, LNPP = leaf number per plant, LW = leaf width, LL = leaf length, TNPP = tiller number per
plant, LSD
0.05:
= least significant difference at P < 0.05, CV% = coefficient of variation
J. Agric. Environ. Sci. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022) ISSN: 2616-3721 (Online); 2616-3713 (Print)
Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 21
Table 3: Dry biomass yield and growth performance of ratoon crop as influenced by sorghum variety and location
Location
Variety
DMY t/ha
PH cm
TNPP
LL cm
LW cm
LNPP
Chanomile
A-2267_2
25.77
b
203.9
ab
2.8
cd
69.60
6.78
bc
9.8
b
Chelenko
4.44
de
186.8
bc
2.27
d
71.70
7.35
b
9.93
b
Dishkara
41.67
a
227.7
a
3.53
cd
80.70
7.52
ab
9.2
b
Konada
3.56
de
156.1
cd
2.07
d
72.20
7.52
ab
9.0
b
NTJ_2
15.06
c
155.5
cd
3.2
cd
61.90
6.97
bc
6.73
c
Rara
16.47
c
152.9
cd
3.27
cd
69.30
8.19
a
9.13
b
Arguba
A-2267_2
3.53
de
145.5
de
5.2
bc
63.00
6.0
d
9.33
b
Chelenko
5.39
d
186.6
bc
3.2
cd
61.50
6.3
cd
11.53
a
Dishkara
5.7
d
165.6
cd
6.53
b
65.10
7.33
b
9.73
b
Konada
3.56
de
156.1
cd
2.07
d
72.20
7.52
ab
9.00
b
NTJ_2
2.34
e
110.6
e
11.33
a
45.10
4.95
e
6.27
c
Rara
2.5
e
68.0
f
9.73
a
58.90
5.97
d
6.60
c
LSD0.05
2.42
37.82
2.596
NS
0.76
1.54
Main effect variety
A-2267_2
14.65
b
174.7
ab
4.00
cd
66.3
ab
6.39
cd
9.57
b
Chelenko
4.92
d
186.7
a
2.74
de
66.6
ab
6.83
bc
10.73
a
Dishkara
23.68
a
196.65
a
5.03
bc
72.9
a
7.43
a
9.47
b
Konada
3.56
d
156.1
bc
2.07
e
72.2
a
7.52
a
9.0
b
NTJ_2
8.7
c
133.05
cd
7.27
a
53.5
c
5.96
d
6.5
d
Rara
9.48
c
110.45
d
6.5
ab
64.1
b
7.08
ab
7.87
c
LSD0.05
1.17
26.74
1.84
7.61
0.54
1.09
CV%
13.2
14
31.3
9.6
6.5
10.3
DMY= dry biomass yield, PH = plant height, TNPP = tiller number per plant, LL = leaf length, LW = leaf width,
LNPP = leaf number per plant, LSD
0.05
=
:
least significant difference at P<0.05, CV% = coefficient of variation
Figure 3: Internode length of the main crop as influenced by sorghum varieties
3.2. Grain yields
The mean values of grain yields for sorghum
varieties are presented in Figure 4. Grain yield was
significantly (P<0.01) varied among sorghum
varieties. Variety NTJ_2 (3.89 t/ha) followed by
Konada (3.77 t/ha) demonstrated the highest grain
yield than other varieties while variety Chelenko
(1.74 t/ha) gave the lowest yield. Grain yields of A-
11.6b
16.73a
8.4c 8.4c
9.53c
12.13b
0
5
10
15
20
A-2267_2 Chelenko Dishkara Konada NTJ_2 Rara
LSD
0.05
=2.01 CV%=9.9
Internode length (cm)
J. Agric. Environ. Sci. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022) ISSN: 2616-3721 (Online); 2616-3713 (Print)
Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 22
2267_2, Chelenko, Dishkara and Rara were not
varied significantly. Varieties in the present study
producing higher dry biomass yield gave lower grain
yield and vice versa. For example Konoda and NTJ_2
demonstrated higher grain yield with lower dry
biomass yield than other varieties in the test. This
result is in agreement with the findings of Borghi et
al. (2013) where sorghum dry biomass yield was
reduced by increased grain yield. The extent of grain
yields of dual purpose sorghum varieties recorded in
the present study was in line with findings of other
researchers (Mahfouz et al., 2015). Sorghum
varieties used in the present study generally gave
relatively higher mean grain yield (2.58 t/ha)
compared to reports for dual purpose sorghum
genotypes, which recorded grain yield of 0.62 t/ha in
winter and 0.55 t/ha in summer production (Hassan et
al., 2015).
Figure 4: Grain yield of sorghum main crop as influenced by different varieties
3.3. Dry biomass yield
The results of dry biomass yield of ratoon and main
crops of sorghum varieties are presented in Table 3
and 4, respectively. Dry biomass yield of the main
crop was significantly (P<0.001) different among
sorghum varieties, location and years. The highest
main crop dry biomass yields were recorded by
Chelenko variety at Arguba site during the 2018
growing season (42.2 t/ha) and at Chanomile site
during the 2019 (38.41 t/ha) and Rara variety at
Chanomile site during the 2019 (37.33 t/ha), which
were statistically similar. The lowest dry biomass
yield the main crop was recorded by variety Konoda
grown at Arguba site during the 2019 growing season
(Table 4).
Dry biomass yields of ratoon crop harvested at 105
days after main crop were significantly (P<0.001)
varied among varieties and locations. Variety
Dishkara demonstrated the highest total (dry biomass
yield of main crop + ratoon crop) dry biomass yield
(41.67 t/ha) at Chanomile site while Rara (2.5 t/ha)
and NTJ_2 (2.34 t/ha) varieties recorded the lowest
dry biomass yields at Arguba site (Table 3).
As indicated in Figure 5, Dishkara variety produced
significantly (P<0.05) higher total (yield of main crop
+ ratoon crop) dry biomass yield (45.3 t/ha) followed
by Chelenko variety (33.3 t/ha) while the lowest dry
biomass yield was obtained from Konada variety
(18.5 t/ha).
Ratoon crops are very important for contribution of
dry lowland forage production system where dual
purpose sorghum varieties could generate both grain
and forage production. Forage dry biomass yield
parameter is important agronomic trait in forage
crops production (Lauer, 2006), especially for the
production of dual purpose sorghum varieties (Chen
et al., 2020). The higher dry biomass yields in the
main crop than in the ratoon could be associated to
the change in seasonal conditions for growth of the
crops and probably depletion of nutrient levels in the
soil (Vinutha et al., 2017). To boost the production it
needs the amendment of the nutrient depletion during
1.99b
1.74b
2.22b
3.77a
3.89a
1.89b
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
A-2267_2 Chelenko Dishkara Konada NTJ_2 Rara
LSD
0.05
= 0.83 CV% = 17.67
Grain yield (t/ha)
J. Agric. Environ. Sci. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022) ISSN: 2616-3721 (Online); 2616-3713 (Print)
Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 23
the harvesting of main crops and ratoon crops (Afzal et al., 2013).
Table 4: Dry biomass yield of sorghum main crop as influenced by variety, experimental year and location
Sorghum varieties
Chanomile site
Arguba site
2018
2019
2018
2019
A-2267_2
12.42g
24.51cd
24.00cde
7.59ghi
Chelenko
22.55c-f
38.41ab
42.20a
10.29gh
Dishkara
18.87f
-
35.94b
10.04ghi
Konada
19.12ef
-
20.57def
5.08i
NTJ_2
9.13ghi
26.00c
10.37gh
6.57hi
Rara
12.03g
37.33ab
24.12cde
7.66ghi
Mean
15.69
21.04
26.2
8.26
LSD
0.05
5.04
CV%
17.30
Means with common letter (s) are not statistically different (P.0.05), LSD
0.05
=
Least Significant Difference at P <
0.05, CV% = coefficient of variation
Figure 5: Dry biomass yields of sorghum varieties used in the present study
3.4. Incidence, severity and AUDPC of
Anthracnose
The incidence, severity and AUDPC were
significantly (P < 0.05) varied among the tested
sorghum varieties at Chanomile and Arguba districts
in the 2018 and 2019 cropping season (Table 5). In
Chanomile site, the highest mean anthracnose
incidences of 98.90 and 100% were recorded from A-
2267_2 variety grown during the 2018 and 2019
cropping seasons, respectively. Similarly, highest
anthracnose severity of 43.67 and 40.36% and
AUDPC of 860 and 1085.27%-days) were recorded
from the same variety grown at Chanomile site
during the 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons,
respectively. The lowest mean anthracnose incidence,
severity and AUDPC were recorded from Konada
variety during the 2018 growing season. Similarly,
the lowest incidence, severity and AUDPC were
recorded from variety Rara grown at Chanomile site
in 2019.
31.8
bc
33.3
ab
45.3
a
18.5
d
21.7
c
29.8
bc
30.1
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
A-2267_2 Chelenko Dishkara Konada NTJ_2 Rara Mean
Dry biomass yield (t/ha)
Total dry biomass yield
Main crop dry biomass yield
Ratoon crop dry biomass yield
CV% = 31.1; LSD
0.05
= 7.3; P<0.05
J. Agric. Environ. Sci. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022) ISSN: 2616-3721 (Online); 2616-3713 (Print)
Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 24
At Arguba site, the highest mean anthracnose
incidence (100%) was noticed from genotype A-
2267_2 in 2018, while in 2019 the highest mean
anthracnose incidence (100%) was recorded from A-
2267_2 and NTJ_2 varieties. The lowest mean
anthracnose incidence was noted from Rara
(61.15%). The highest mean anthracnose severity
was recorded from the varieties A-2267_2 (32.02%),
NTJ_2 (31.98%) and Dishkara (26.81%) in 2018,
while in 2019 the highest mean anthracnose severity
was noted from all varieties except for Konada and
Rara varieties. The highest value of AUDPC at
Arguba site was recorded from the variety A-2267_2
(829.92%-days) followed by NTJ_2 (741.55%-days)
and (Dishkara 703.13%-days) during the 2018
growing season, while the highest mean AUDPC
values were observed from the varieties A-2267_2
(734.23%-days), Dishkara (696.22%-days) and
NTJ_2 (724.15%-days) during the 2019 growing
season.
Anthracnose is the most severe and distressing
sorghum disease in terms of dry biomass and grain
yields in the study areas (Getachew et al., 2021). The
plant disease epidemic development is highly
affected by availability of optimum temperature,
relative humidity, host tissue, levels of host
resistance, and other factors during the growing
periods of the crop (Campbell and Madden, 1990).
J. Agric. Environ. Sci. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022) ISSN: 2616-3721 (Online); 2616-3713 (Print)
Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 25
Table 5: Incidence, severity and AUDPC of sorghum varieties to Anthracnose at different sites during the 2018 and 2019 main cropping seasons
Sorghum
varieties
Chanomile
Arguba
2018 cropping season
2019 cropping season
2018 cropping season
2019 cropping season
PDI
f
(%)
PSI
f
(%)
AUDPC
(%-days)
PDI
f
(%)
PSI
f
(%)
AUDPC
(%-days)
PDI
f
(%)
PSI
f
(%)
AUDPC
(%-days)
PDI
f
(%)
PSI
f
(%)
AUDPC
(%-days)
A-2267_2
98.90a
43.67a
840.00a
100a
40.36a
1085.27a
100a
32.02a
829.92a
100a
31.22a
734.23a
Chelenko
83.08b
26.67bc
583.33bc
91.88ab
31.33a-c
671.49bc
67.28bc
24.60b
576.33d
90.78a
25.29ab
537.44b
Dishkara
83.08b
27.22bc
711.67a-c
-
-
-
76.28bc
26.81ab
703.13bc
95.18ab
28.84a
696.22a
Konada
77.14b
20.00c
560.00c
-
-
-
75.05bc
19.70b
553.28d
78.85c
19.20b
507.77b
NTJ_2
82.67b
31.11b
750.56ab
93.50ab
34.77ab
863.80b
81.13ab
31.98a
741.55ab
100a
30.88a
724.15a
Rara
79.78b
30.56b
617.83bc
75.34c
29.13bc
592.87c
61.15c
23.43b
599.86d
86.64bc
26.43b
575.60b
P-value
< 0.05
< 0.001
< 0.05
< 0.05
< 0.05
< 0.05
< 0.05
< 0.05
< 0.001
< 0.05
< 0.05
< 0.001
Grand mean
84.11
29.87
703.56
90.18
33.89
803.36
76.81
26.42
667.34
91.91
26.98
629.23
LSD (0.05)
13.09
10.35
172.42
13.87
10.01
208.48
19.48
7.23
115.58
11.41
7.00
117.69
CV (%)
8.75
19.49
13.78
8.80
17.76
15.25
14.26
15.40
9.73
6.98
14.59
10.51
Means following with the same letter(s) in a column are not significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) PDI
f
= Percent disease incidence at final date; PSI
f
= Percent
severity index at final date; AUDPC = area under disease progress curve; LSD = least significant difference at a 5% probability level; and CV = coefficient of
variation
J. Agric. Environ. Sci. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022) ISSN: 2616-3721 (Online); 2616-3713 (Print)
Publication of College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University 26
3.5. Correlation analysis of growth and yield
parameters as influenced by sorghum
variety, location and years
The correlation of yields (dry biomass and grain)
with growth and disease assessment parameters for
main and ratoon crops are presented in Tables 6 and
7, respectively. Dry biomass yield of main crops was
positively correlated with plant height, tiller number
leaf length, leaf number, and internodes. The
correlation of dry biomass yield was significantly
(P<0.001) strong with internodes (0.946) of main
crops. Tiller number and leaf length of the main crop
had weak relationship with dry biomass yield of
sorghum varieties. Day biomass yield of the main
cropping season was negatively correlated (-0.785)
with grain yield. Dry biomass yield of main crop was
the function of internodes of the stem in the present
study.
Dry biomass yield of ratoon crops was positively
correlated with plant height (0.426), tiller number
(0.32), leaf length (0.271), leaf width (0.113), and
leaf number (0.088). The positive correlation of
biomass yield of ratoon crop with area under disease
progress curve showed anthracnose disease not
affected the growth and development of ratoon crops
in this study. Positive correlation of parameters either
for main or ratoon crops of sorghum varieties
indicates that, selection on any one of the traits will
increase in the other traits, thereby improving
biomass yield in sorghum. Similar finding with the
present result was reported by other scholar for
fifteen genotypes of sorghum (Naharudin et al.,
2021). The phenotypic correlation of plant height of
sorghum varieties with biomass yield was reported as
0.349 (Narkhede and Seeds, 2020) while the
correlation of plant height for the present study was
as higher as 0.804 for main crop and 0.426 for ratoon
crop.
Positive association of dry biomass yield with plant
height and tiller number for main and ratoon crops
was reported previously as plant height and tillering
were contributing to forage yield (Bhat, 2019). The
association of dry biomass and grain yields with
growth parameters was also supported by another
findings on sorghum production (Madhusudhana,
2019).
Table 6: Relationships of growth, yield and disease parameters of main crop of sorghum as influenced by variety, location
and year
DMY
PH
TNPP
LL
LNPP
Internodes
GY
AUDPC
DMY
PH
1
0.804
1
TNPP
0.019
-0.419
1
LL
0.387
0.175
-0.394
1
LNPP
0.67
0.839*
-0.695
0.591
1
Internodes
0.946**
0.851*
0.077
0.128
0.616
1
GY
-0.785
-0.491
-0.069
-0.332
-0.426
-0.648
1
AUDPC
-0.223
-0.141
0.3
-0.733
-0.542
-0.156
-0.093
1
Table 7: Relationships of growth, yield and disease parameters of ratoon crop of sorghum as influenced by
variety, location and year
DMY
PH
TNPP
LL
LW
LNPP
AUDPC
DMY
PH
1
0.426
1
TNPP
0.32
-0.585
1
LL
0.271
0.586
-0.707
1
LW
0.113
0.239
-0.492
0.878*
1
LNPP
0.088
0.796
-0.801
0.728
0.436
1
AUDPC
0.562
0.269
0.287
-0.28
-0.633
-0.078
1
PH = plant height, TNPP = tiller number per plant, LL= leaf length, LNPP = leaf number per plant, GY = grain
yield, AUDPC = area under disease progress curve, DMY = dry biomass yield
J. Agric. Environ. Sci. Vol. 4 No. 1 (2019) ISSN: 2616-3721 (Online); 2616-3713 (Print)
27
4. Conclusion and Recommendations
Plant height, leaf number, tiller number, and dry
biomass and grain yield variations for main and
ratoon crop sorghum varieties under anthracnose
stress at Arguba and Chanomile sites were observed
during the 2018 and 2019 cropping season. Chelenko
variety exhibited higher plant height for main crops
while Dishkara for ratoon crops. Anthracnose
disease affected more the grain yield than dry
biomass yield. Dishkara variety recorded 45.3 t/ha
total biomass yield, which is about 33.6% more yield
compared to the overall mean value (30.1 t/ha)
followed by Chelenko variety which gave about 9.6%
more total biomass yield. The variety Konoda
recorded the lowest total dry biomass yield (18.5
t/ha), which was reduced by 40% compared to the
mean value. Dry biomass yield of main crop had
positive association with plant height, leaf number
per plant, leaf length and tiller number per plant and
negative association with grain yield. While the dry
biomass yield of ratoon crop had positive association
with all parameters. The correlation analysis result
indicated that anthracnose disease didn’t affect the
ratoon yield. Under anthracnose stressed areas of
Arba Minch, Dhirashe and areas with similar agro-
ecologies, the varieties Dishkara and Chelenko for
dry biomass yield production and variety NTJ_2 for
grain production could be recommended.
Acknowledgement
Highly acknowledge Southern Agricultural Research
Institute (SARI) and Arba Minch Agricultural
Research Center for technical and financial support.
Getinet Kebede is duly thanked for data collection
and field management.
Conflict of interest
Authors declare no conflict of interest.
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