Field Evaluation of Sorghum Midge-Resistant Sorghum Hybrids, 1993

Seventeen F, sorghum hybrids of released and experimental parental lines arranged in a RCB design with 3 replications were evaluated for resistance to sorghum midge (SM) in duplicated field trials at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at College Station, TX and at the Texas A&M University Research and Extension Center at Corpus Christi, TX. Seed was sown 14 May in rows spaced 30 inches (76.2 cm) apart and 5 Apr in rows spaced 38 inches (96.5 cm) apart at College Station and Corpus Christi, respectively. Yield and damage ratings were used to evaluate hybrids of resistant by resistant parents, and resistant by susceptible parents, compared with hybrids of susceptible by susceptible parents. At College Station, 100-kernel weight also was determined. Rating of damage caused by SM was done at sorghum kernel physiological maturity where 1 = 1-10, 2 = 11-20, to 9 = 81-100% kernel loss. Panicles from plots were hand harvested (0.0025 ha) and threshed by using a stationary plot thresher. Grain yield was calculated by converting grain weight to kg/ha. ANOVA and LSD at the 0.05 probability level were used to analyze data.