Superiority of newly released sorghum varieties for enhancing farm level genetic gains in Tanzania

Sorghum has a high composition of starch which is a good source of energy as well as higher protein levels that are higher than those found in a cereal like maize. The sorghum system in Tanzania is mostly dominant in Central Zone, Lake Zone and Western Zone which are in semi-arid areas. Most of these regions are characterized by drought, short rainfall duration, unreliable, and erratic rains. This has resulted in crop failure, food shortage and unstable grain prices (Timu et al, 2014). To address these constraints, the Government of Tanzania in collaboration with other development partners and seed companies released a dozen improved sorghum varieties over the past decade. These varieties contain desirable traits such as they are high yielding (ranging 2.0-3.5ton/ha), have resistance to pests, are stress tolerant that is they can grow in areas within 0-1500 meters above sea level and 300-1500 mm rainfall, and take 100 to 120 days to mature. Moreover, improved varieties have the ability to tolerate striga infestation which is a major problem to sorghum farmers during production phase (Table 1). Improved varieties also have better nutrient content to cater for the problem of malnutrition