Combining Ability of Lowland Adapted Ethiopian Sorghum Hybrids for Yield

AbstractThis study was conducted with the objective to assess the performances of hybridsdeveloped from early and medium maturing lowland adapted Ethiopian sorghuminbred lines. A total of 95 hybrids and three checks were tested using alpha lettucedesign with two replications at Meiso and Sheraro. All agronomic practices weredone on time as recommended. Based on the results obtained from the analysispositive and significant GCA values among the female lines were recorded byICSV96143, ICSR93034, IESV92168-DC and ETSL101565. Likewise, testerTX623A were identified as most promising parents having good generalcombining ability for grain yield and almost all its major yield components.Similarly, for grain yield, 15 hybrid combinations had significant advantage overtheir respective standard check Melkam. Among these hybrids the highest wasobtained from MARC6A x IESV23010DL (78%) followed by TX623A xETSL101859 (71%) and TX623A x ETSL100684 (67%). The information generatedfrom the present study can be used for breeders who want to improve yield andyield-contributing traits of sorghum by understanding the genetic relationshipamong inbred lines