Improving the green mass quality with the help of heterosis breeding

The most reliable and effective way to improve both productivity and quality of green mass is the use of heterosis breeding. The purpose of the current work was to study the heterosis effect of green mass quality indicators in sorghum-Sudan hybrids developed based on cytoplasmic male sterility. The object of the study was the sorghum-Sudan hybrids developed by the Agricultural Research Center “Donskoy”. Dry matter productivity varied among the hybrids within 746-1202 g/m 2 . The highest values have been observed in the combinations with the CMS-line ‘APV-1115’ (1045 g/m 2 ). The heterosis effect on the dry matter productivity was found in all hybrids. Four hybrids ‘APV-1115 x Kudesnitsa’, ‘APV-1115 x ChT-22’, ‘Dzhetta x ChT-2’, ‘APV-1115 x Svetloplenchataya 4’ have significantly exceeded the standard in terms of dry matter productivity by 184-270 g/m 2 with high rates of hypothetical (38.1-64.1%), true (93.2-142.0%) and competitive (19.8-28.9%) heterosis. Digestible protein yield has ranged from 49 to 84 g/m 2 . Among the hybrids, the greatest heterosis effect was identified in the hybrids ‘Demetra x Svetloplenchataya 4’ (H hyp .=43.4%, H true .=125.4%), ‘Dzhetta x Yaktik’ (H hyp .=70.5%, H true .=142.3%), ‘APV-1115 x Kudestitsa’ (H hyp .=72.8%, H true .=108.9%), ‘APV-1115 x Svetloplenchataya 2’ (H hyp .=81.0%, H true. =118.4%), ‘APV1115 x ChT-22’ (H hyp. =103.3%, H true. =118.4%). In the course of the study, there has been found that according to the content of crude protein, ash, oil, fiber and nitrogen-free extractive substances (NES), the most hybrids possessed partial or incomplete dominance of large values. However, to obtain even a slight heterosis according to the content of protein, fiber, and NES content, at least one parent had to have high trait values. Based on the complex of the heterotic effect according to the green mass quality indicators, there have been identified such hybrids as ‘Dzhetta x Yaktik’, which exceeded the large parental form in terms of dry matter (H true. =10.5%) and oil (H true. =14.4%); ‘Dzhetta x ChSS’ which exceeded the large parental form in terms of dry matter and crude protein (H true. =14.3 and 1.3%); ‘Demetra x Svetloplenchataya 4’ which exceeded the large parental form in terms of crude protein, dry matter, and ash (H true. =3.8; 5.9 and 6.4%, respectively). In general, the data obtained have indicated the prospects of using cytoplasmic male sterility in breeding not only for productivity, but also for quality.