Genetic studies for improvement of quality characters in rabi sorghum using landraces

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is one of the important cereal crops cultivated in India during kharif(rainy) and rabi (postrainy) seasons. Rabi sorghum is highly valued for its excellent grain quality and also for its food use. The bettergrain quality fetches high market price often at par or higher than wheat (Triftcum aestivum) (Nerkar 1998). However, there are certain major constraints in rabi sorghum improvement such as narrow genetic base, low variability for yield and grain quality parameters with rabi season adaptation. Indian rabi sorghum landraces are rich repository of genetic variability and are preserved by the farmers due to local adaptability, good grain quality and for specific food products. Thus, it becomes more relevant to utilize such typical landraces in breeding programs