Exploiting the plant characters association of grain iron and zinc under diverse environments

Malnutrition is a rising issue in the present era. Biofortification is a process used to improve the nutritional content of the crop, it enhances the levels of essential vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, and provitamin A (beta-carotene) in the grain and make it more nutritious without extra supplements. In regards to this, to elevate the grain iron and zinc nutrient status in sorghum, the present study was conducted at two locations i.e. Sorghum Research Station, Akola and Agriculture Research Station, Washim in the rabi season 2023. The present study comprised of ten parents and 45 crosses (obtained by half diallel method) laid out in randomized block design with three replications at both the locations having diverse environments. Amongst the parents, Parbhani Shakti exhibited superior performance in desirable direction along with high iron and zinc content along with satisfactory grain yield per plant along with the parents AKSV-442, M-35-1 and PKV Kranti. Further, from amongst the crosses, the cross CSV-26R X CSV-22R was recorded promising for grain iron and zinc content along with grain yield per plant in desirable direction. Correlation studies inferred that, the micro-nutrients such as grain iron and zinc content recorded significantly positive correlation with each other indicating simultaneously improvement of the character. Whereas, on the other hand, both grain iron and zinc content recorded significantly negative association with grain yield which indicated that genetic enhancement for grain iron and zinc content does not have yield enhancement. This low yield in the rabi sorghum was due to the diverse environmental conditions faced by the rabi sorghum as compared to the kharif sorghum. Also, phytic acid had positive association with grain iron and zinc content and negative correlation with grain yield which attributed to less germination due to phytic acid content in the seed. The study led to a final conclusion that, breeding for higher levels of micronutrients can be achieved simultaneously for grain iron and zinc content without compromising on the grain yield in the rabi sorghum. Therefore, it will be possible to develop cultivars with high grain iron and zinc content along with high yield and appropriate phytic acid levels having low anti nutritional factors by the use of recombination breeding.