1

Release of introduced grain sorghum x Sudangrass hybrid

Mabrouk for forage production in the Sudan




By

Maarouf I. Mohammed

Fatih E. A. Hamza, Mozzamil A.M. Eltalib
,
Hussein Muhi Eldin, Mohammed
Al Assad, Mohammed Ismail Ahmed and Hassan A. Tambal







Submitted to the Variety Release Committee
Khartoum, Sudan
(July, 2012)


2

Release of introduced grain sorghum x Sudangrass hybrid
Mabrouk for forage production in the Sudan
By
Maarouf I. Mohammed
1
and Fatih E. A. Hamza
2

Contributors
Mozzamil A.M. Eltalib1
1

Hussein Muhi Eldin
3

Mohammed Ismail Ahmed
4

Hassan A. Tambal
5



Abstract
An introduced Egyptian forage sorghum hybrid from Misr HyTtech Co. Mabrouk was
tested against three standard checks (Pannar888, Kambal and AbuSabin) under seven
environments in the Sudan during 2010-2011. Four environments were in Khartoum State
and one each at River Nile, Northern and White Nile States. The genotypes were
arranged in RCB Design with 4 or 3 replicates. The performance of the introduced hybrid
was also demonstrated in the Farmers field in Khartoum State. Green and dry forage
yield and some related traits were studied. Chemical analysis for crude protein, Neutral
(NDF) and Acid (ADF) Detergent Fibers were carried out
The results obtained indicated that the hybrid Mabrouk consistently outyielded the
standard checks in all environments with average yield advantage over the checks
ranging from 22 % to 40 % for green matter yield and 28 % to 48 % for dry matter yield.
Its performance in the 2
nd
cut was comparable if not better than the best yielding check.
Mabrouk has better yield stability than the check Pannar888 and kept its yield superiority
under farmer-managed trial. Its crude protein content was 11.6 %, higher than that of the
check AbuSabin. The release of the hybrid Mabrouk has been recommended for
commercial fodder production under the irrigated sector of the Sudan.

1
Shambat Research Station Agricultural research Corporation (ARC)
2
Merowe Research Station / ARC
3
Faculty of Forestry and Range Sciences. Sudan University. Suba.
4
Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources. University of Bakht El Ruda. Ad Duwaym
5
Shendi Research Station / ARC
3


Introduction
In Sudan, the demand for animal products is increasing in response to the ever rising
populations in the urbanized sector. Such growing demand calls for continuous supply of
fodder throughout the year. Accordingly, great expansion in the area allocated to fodder
crops has occurred. Based on the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture recorded for the
year 2009, the area under fodder crops in Khartoum State amounted to 200 thousand
feddans whereas in the River Nile and Northern States, around 60 and 30 thousand
feddans were cropped to forage crops, respectively.
Sorghum is the most crop capable in meeting the demand for large quantities of high-
quality green fodders, especially in the hot and drier parts of the world. Compared to
other cereals specially maize, it is more drought tolerant, less input demanding and thrive
better under harsh conditions.
Hybrids of forage sorghums are specialized forms of sorghum crop fully dedicated for
fodder production. According to Maunder (1983), the release of the first forage sorghum
hybrid occurred in 1959. Nowadays, such hybrids are common in many parts of the
world. In the Sudan, work on introduction of exotic forage sorghum hybrid started in the
early 1980s (EL Ahmadi et al, 2003) when Pioneer International introduced Pioneer 988,
which was evaluated by the Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC) and released in
1989 ( Ishag, 1989). Since then, four forage sorghum hybrids were tested and released by
ARC, namely: Speedfeed and Jumbo from Pacific seed Co. (Khair et al., 1995), Pannar
888 from Pannar Seed Co. (Nour et al., 1998) and Safed Moti from Proagro seed Co.
(ElAhmadi et al., 2003). Another exotic hybrid CFSH30 from Agriculture
Environmental Renewal Canada Inc. (AERC Inc.) has also been tested and submitted for
release by ARC in 2010, but was not approved by the Variety Release Committee
(Mohammed and Thabit, 2010).
Today, the seeds of only two or three of the released hybrids are marketed in the Sudan,
coming mainly from South Africa and India. In this study, the performance of an
Egyptian forage sorghum hybrid has been evaluated under Sudan conditions with the
objective of testing its validity for commercial release.

4


Materials and Methods
Plant materials: Four forage sorghum genotypes comprising one introduced grain
sorghum x Sudangrass hybrid from Misr HyTtech Mabrouk and three standard checks (
Pannar888, Kambal and AbuSabin) were investigated. Kambal was AbuSabin selection
developed and released by the ARC in 2004 (Mohammed et al, 2008). 'Pannar888' was
developed by Pannar Seed Company of South Africa and released by ARC in 1998 (Nour
et al., 1998). It is characterized by having high dry matter production per day and relative
earliness compared to other commercial hybrids used in Sudan (Mohammed, 2001).
AbuSabin was included as a farmers check representing the bulk of forage sorghum
grown in the Sudan.
Environments: The genotypes were investigated in seven environments during 2010-
2011 four of them were in Khartoum State (Shambat 2010, Suba 2010, FekiHashim 2011,
Shambat 2011) and one each at River Nile (Shendi 2010), Northern (Merowe 2010), and
White Nile States (Ad Duwaym 2011). All the trials were conducted in the winter season
2010/011 except in Shambat 2011 and Ad Duwaym 2011 where they were conducted
during summer and kharif seasons, respectively.
Cultural practices: In the year 2010, sowing dates were effected on: 25 Oct., 27 Oct., 7
Nov. and 28 Nov. at Shendi, Suba West, Shambat, and Merowe sites, respectively. In the
year 2011, the materials were sown on 15 April, 20 Sept., and 18 Dec. at Shambat, Ad
Duwaym, and FekiHashim sites, respectively. Seeding was done on both sides of the
ridges in all sites by placing 3 to 5 seeds in holes spaced at 5 x 75cm along and between
the ridges, respectively. In most cases, the plot consisted of 5 ridges 4 to 6 m long with
gross area ranging from 20 to 30m
2
. Nitrogen fertilizer (Urea) was added at second
irrigation at a rate of 55 Kg N/ha. Irrigation water was applied at 10 to 15 day intervals.
Weeds populations were minimized by hand removal during the first month from sowing.
Pests, specially stem borers, were monitored and controlled when necessary. After taking
the first cut, nitrogen fertilizer (Urea) at a rate of 55 Kg N/ha was added and the irrigation
water was applied to assess the second cut
Data collected: The green matter yield (GMY) was estimated by harvesting the whole
plot at the flowering stage. A sample of 0.5 kg was taken from the GMY of each
harvested plot and air dried to estimate the dry matter yield (DMY). Plant height and days
5

to 50% heading were measured in 5 out of 7 environments. Chemical analysis for crude
protein (CP) Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) and Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) were
carried out for the hybrid Mabrouk and the check AbuSabin in the laboratory of the
Faculty of Animal Production, University of Khartoum. Shambat.
Experimental design and statistical analysis: The genotypes were arranged in RCB
Design with 4 replicates except at FekiHashim (3 replicates). Separate ANOVA for the
seven irrigated environments was performed for yield and related traits before running
the combined analysis. Stability analysis was performed following Wricke (1962). The
estimates of GxE statistics obtained by this method (Wi ecovalence) are the effects for
each entry, squared and summed across all environments, as a measure of stability. As
the ecovalence value increases, the genotype's contribution to the total GXE sum of
squares also increases.The statistical package GenStat for Windows (2011) was used to
run the ANOVA whereas Agrobase Gen II (2008) was used to run the stability analysis
Demonstration plots
The performance of hybrid Mabrouk was demonstrated in the Farmers field in Khartoum
State at Sururab West (30 km north of Omdurman) in an area of aprox. 0.11 ha. The
hybrid Pannar888 and Kambal were used as checks. Sowing date was on 28.Oct.2010.
The site was sown and managed by the farmer under technical supervision of the research
staff. Six samples, 1 m
2
each, were randomly taken from each plot to estimate fresh
forage yield of the first and the second cuts. At harvest, a field day attended by farmers,
extension and research staff was organized..
Results and Discussions
Tables I and 2 show mean squares from combined ANOVA for forage yield and related
traits, respectively. Differences among genotypes were highly significant for all
characters studied. Genotype by environment interaction (GxE) was highly significant for
fresh and dry forage yield of the first cut.
Forage yield
The first cut
Green matter yield (GMY): Table 3 shows the GMY of four forage sorghum cultivars
obtained in each of the seven environments and the average yield combined. Differences
among cultivars for GMY were significant in all environments except at Suba 2010.
6

The hybrid Mabrouk consistently outyielded the standard checks in all environments with
significant gains in yield in most cases. Its GMY ranged from 27.4 to 51.5 t/ha at Suba
and Ad Duwaym, respectively, whereas the respective GMYs shown by the check
Pannar888 were 19.2 and 36.8 t/ha. The GMY obtained by Kambal ranged from 22.6 to
43.2 t/ha. Across the seven environments the hybrid Mabrouk averaged the best GMY
(35.5 t/ha) outyielding Pannar888 (28.2 t/ha), Kambal (29.2 t/ha) and AbuSabin (25.4
t/ha) with respective yield advantage amounting to 25.9% 21.6% and 39.8%.
The dry matter yield (DMY): Table 4 shows the DMY of four forage sorghum cultivars
obtained in three environments. Differences between cultivars in DMY were highly
significant in each environment. The hybrid Mabrouk significantly outyielded the
standard checks in each environment averaging 8.76 t/ha. Its increase in DMY over
Pannar888, Kambal and AbuSabin amounted to 27.9 %, 33.5 % and 47.5 %, respectively.
The second cut : Table 5 shows the GMY of the second cut obtained by the four
cultivars in three environments. Differences between cultivars for GMY were significant
in each environment. The GMY obtained by the hybrid Mabrouk was higher than that of
Pannar888 in two environments, however the difference was not statistically significant.
Pannar888 outyielded Mabrouk in Shendi environment. Across the three environments,
the hybrid Mabrouk averaged 17.92 t/ha, better than Pannar888 that yielded 16.72 t/ha
but the difference in yield was not statistically significant.
Analysis of yield stability based on Wi-Ecovalence parameter (Table 6) showed that the
hybrid Mabrouk has the second lowest contribution to the total GxE pointing to its
relative stability across the test environments. The check Pannar888 gave the greatest
contribution to the total GxE.
Yield related traits
Tables 7 and 8 show the results obtained by cultivars in each of the five environments for
days to 50 % heading and plant height, respectively. Differences among cultivars for both
characters were significant in three out of the five environments. The results from the
combined data of the five environments showed that the hybrid Mabrouk was taller and 2
to 3 days later in heading than the standard checks.


7

Chemical analysis
Chemical analysis revealed that the crude protein (CP) of the hybrid Mabrouk was
11.6%, higher than that obtained for the check AbuSabin (10.3 %). This could be
attributed to the increased leafiness or high leaf to stem ratio (not measured in this study)
observed for the hybrid Mabrouk in comparison with the check AbuSabin. The NDF and
ADF values for Mabrouk were 66.6 % and 43.6 %, respectively, whereas those shown by
the check AbuSabin were 62.3% for NDF and 43.1% for ADF.
The demonstration plot
Table 9 shows forage yield of the first and the second cut obtained in the demonstration
field at Sururab site. The hybrid Mabrouk gave the highest GMY averaging 35.4 and
21.25 t/ha in the first and the second cut, respectively, whereas the best yielding check
Pannar888 yielded respective GMY of 26.7 and 17.8 t/ha.
Conclusion
The introduced forage sorghum hybrid Mabrouk was tested against three standard
checks (Panaar888, Kambal and AbuSabin) in 7 environments during 2010-2011. The
results obtained indicated that the hybrid Mabrouk consistently outyielded the standard
checks across environments with average yield advantage over the checks ranging from
21.6 % to 39.8 % in green matter yield and 27.9 % to 47.5 % in dry matter yield. In the
GMY of the 2
nd
cut, Mabrouk was comparable if not better than the best yielding check.
The hybrid Mabrouk has better yield stability than the check Pannar888 and kept its yield
superiority under farmer-managed demonstration plot. Its crude protein content was 11.6
%, higher than that of the check AbuSabin.
Recommendations
Based on the results obtained in this study we recommend to the Variety Release
Committee the` release of the forage sorghum hybrid Mabrouk for commercial
production under the irrigated sector of the Sudan. The major features of this hybrid are
described in Appendix I. We suggest keeping the original name: Mabrouk :




8

References
Agrobase Gen II (2008) version 18.5.1 Agronomix software, inc. Canada
ElAhmadi, A.B.; Khair, M. A. M and Mohammed, Maarouf. I.. (2003). Comparative
performance of Safed Moti, a grain sorghum x Sudan Grass hybrid from India. A
paper submitted to the Variety Release Committee. ARC. W. Medani. Sudan
Genstat. (2011). GenStat Release 10.3DE ( PC/Windows 7) VSN International Ltd.
(Rothamsted Experimental Station) . UK.
Ishag, H. M. (1989). Pioneer 988- a forage sorghum for irrigated Gezira. A report
submitted to the Variety Release Committee. ARC. W. Medani. Sudan.
Khair, M. A. M; Babiker, E.A.; Ibrahim, B. A. and Mohammed, B.A. (1995). Speed feed
and Jumbo, new sorghum/Sudan Grass hybrids for irrigated areas in the Central Sudan. A
paper submitted to the Variety Release Committee. ARC. Wad . Medani. Sudan.
Maunder, B. A. (1983). Development and perspectives of the hybrid seed industry in the
Americas. In: G. Ejeta Ed., Hybrid Sorghum Seed for Sudan. Proceedings. Purdue
University. Pp. 39-48.
Mohammed, Maarouf. I. (2001). Annual Research Report (2000/2001). Shambat
Research Station. ARC. W. Medani. Sudan
Mohammed, Maarouf, I.; Gamal, E. Khalifa; Ghada, H. Abdulrahman and Mohammed, I.
Elmahi. (2008). Improvement of the traditional forage sorghum cultivar 'AbuSabin'.
Sudan J. Agric. Res. 11: 25-33.
Mohammed, Maarouf, I and Ahmed, T. M. (2010). Proposal for the release of the new forage
sorghum hybrid CFSH30. A paper submitted to the Variety Release Committee. Khartoum,
Sudan.
Nour, A.M.; Khair, M.A.M. and Mohammed, B.A. (1998). Performance of forage
sorghum hybrids under Sudan conditions. A paper submitted to the Variety Release
Committee. ARC.W.Medani
Wricke, G. (1962). ber eine Methode zur Erfassung der ekologischen Streubreite in
Feldversuchen Z. Pflanzenzcht. 47:92-96.

9

Table 1. Mean squares from combined ANOVA for green (GMY) and dry (DMY) matter
yields in forage sorghum
Source of variation d.f. GMY (t/ha) d.f. DMY (t/ha) 2
ND
cut GMY
Block 3 29.73 3 1.8671 5.64
Environment (E) 6 752.60** 2 70.9805** 154.25**
Block in E. 17 50.83 6 1.7731 12.25
Genotype (G) 3 510.01** 3 17.7131** 214.22**
G x E 18 51.26** 6 4.0789** 42.52*
Residual 60 18.98 27 0.6603 14.46
Total 107 47
*, ** significant at 0.0 5 and 0.01 probability level, respectively








Table 2. Mean squares from combined ANOVA for two yield related traits in forage
sorghum
Source of variation df Days to 50% heading Plant height (cm)
Block 3 1.912 479.7
Environment (E) 4 615.731** 18528.5**
Block in E. 12 5.756 291.4
Genotype (G) 3 28.579** 3611.2**
G x E 12 6.715** 589.8**
Residual 45 2.432 222.2
Total 79
** significant at 0.01 probability level





Table 3. GMY 1
st
Cut (t/ha) obtained in single and combined environments
10

Cultivar
... Environments
Combined
Percent
increase
in yield
Sham
2010
Shendi
2010
Merow
i 2010
Suba
2010
Shambat
2011
Dowim
2011
Feki
Hashim
2011
Pannar888 25.2 30.6 28.8 19.2 28.3 36.8 28.4 28.2 25.9 %
Mabrouk 32.4 40.1 36.7 27.4 31.4 51.5 29.1 35.5 0.0 %
Kambal 29.2 37.3 24.5 22.6 29.4 43.2 18.4 29.2 21.6 %
AbuSabin 26.1 29.5 17.7 20.3 30.2 37.0 17.1 25.4 39.8 %
Mean 28.2 34.4 26.9 22.4 29.8 42.1 23.3 29.6
P. Value 0.001 0.005 <.001 0.296 0.042 0.044 0.038 <.001
SE 0.910 1.73 1.62 3.04 0.64 3.44 2.73 0.82
CV(%) 6.4 10.1 12.0 27.2 4.3 16.3 20.3 14.7
: standard check
Mabrouk over the standard checks






Table 4. Dry matter yield (t/ha) of four forage sorghum cultivars obtained in single and
combined environments.
Environment
Cultivar
Shambat
2010/011
Shendi
2010/011
Merowe
2010/011
Combined
average
Percent increase in
yield
Pannar888 (check) 4.80 8.65 7.10 6.85 27.9 %
Mabrouk 6.52 11.40 8.36 8.76 0.0 %
Kambal (check) 5.45 9.38 4.84 6.56 33.5 %
AbuSabin (check) 5.51 8.34 3.98 5.94 47.5 %
Mean 5.57 9.44 6.07 7.03
P. Value 0.009 0.017 <.001 <.001
SE 0.265 0.569 0.319 0.235
CV(%) 9.5 12.0 10.5 11.6







Table 5. Green matter yield (t/ha) of the 2nd cut obtained by four forage sorghum cultivars
in single and combined environments.
Environment
Cultivar
Shambat 2010/011 Shendi 2010/011 Merowi 2010/011 Combined
average
11

Pannar888 (check) 11.66 18.76 19.74 16.72
Mabrouk 14.62 13.54 25.59 17.92
Kambal (check) 8.03 10.69 12.49 10.4
AbuSabin (check) 8.49 10.93 9.78 9.73
Mean 10.70 13.48 16.9 13.69
P. Value 0.005 0.002 0.015 <.001
SE 1.054 1.142 2.903 1.098
CV(%) 19.7 17.0 34.4 27.8








Table 6. Yield stability in forage sorghum across seven test environments based on Wi-
Ecovalence parameter
Genotype GXE Statistic Contribution to total GxE
Pannar888 (check) 80.608 35.15 %
Mabrouk 49.181 21.44%
Kambal (check) 38.767 16.90%
AbuSabin (check) 60.783 26.50%









Table 7. Days to heading in forage sorghum under single and combined environments
Environment
Cultivar
Shambat
2010/011
Shendi
2010/011
Merowi
2010/011
FekiHashim
2011/012
Ad Duwaym
2011/012
Combined
average
12

Pannar888 (check) 56.5 54.0 67.8 70.0 66.3 62.9
Mabrouk 59.5 56.3 67.8 69.3 71.8 64.9
Kambal (check) 58.0 56.3 65.8 67.8 68.3 63.2
AbuSabin (check) 56.5 55.5 65.0 66.3 67.0 62.1
Mean 57.6 55.5 66.6 68.3 68.3 63.3
P. Value 0.166 0.166 0.021 0.038 0.002 <.001
SE 0.982 0.726 0.602 0.800 0.737 0.349
CV(%) 3.4 2.6 1.8 2.3 2.2 2.5







Table 8. Plant height (cm) in forage sorghum under single and combined environments
Environment
Cultivar
Shambat
2010/011
Shendi
2010/011
Merowe
2010/011
FekiHashim
2011/012
Ad Duwaym
2011/012
Combined
average
PANNAR888
(check)
158 178 211 117 165 166
Mabrouk 169 230 230 123 201 191
Kambal (check) 168 200 188 112 168 167
AbuSabin (check) 158 180 178 116 171 160
Mean 163 197 202 117 176 171
P. Value 0.113 0.021 0.003 0.805 0.004 <.001
SE 3.74 10.42 7.41 8.44 5.39 3.33
CV(%) 4.6 10.6 7.4 14.5 6.1 8.7









13

Table 9. Green matter yield (t/ha) of the first and the 2nd cut obtained by three forage
sorghum cultivars in the demonstration plot conducted at Sururab site (Khartoum State,
2010/11)
Cultivar First cut 2nd cut
AbuSabin (check) 19.5 8.85
Mabrouk 35.4 21.3
Pannar888 (check) 26.7 14.8
Mean 27.2 15.0
SE 1.594 1.042
: Farmer Name Khalid Abbas, Location Almahmodab Alsururab Sagia no. 41



Appendix I. Description of some features of the forage sorghum hybrid Mabrouk from
Misr HyTtech Co Egypt.
Character Description Stage of
observation
Seedling : anthocyanin colouration of coleoptile Purple seedling
Plant: total height medium 151-260 cm maturity
Plant: time of panicle emergence (50% of the plants
with complete panicle emergence)
medium (66-75 days) panicle emergenc
Stem : diameter (at lower one third height of plant) small (< 2 cm) maturity
Stalk juiciness Juicy maturity
Leaf: length of blade of the third leaf from top medium (41 60 cm) maturity
Leaf: width of blade of the third leaf from top medium (4.1 6.0 cm) maturity
Leaf : mid rib colour (5th fully developed leaf) dull green 5 leaf
Panicle : density at maturity (ear head compactness) loose maturity
Panicle : length without peduncle medium (21 30 cm) maturity
: Based on IBPGR Sorghum Descriptor