Agronomic performance of dual-purpose Sorghum bicolor (L.) hybrids under water deficit

This study aimed to assess the agronomic performance of five sorghum hybrids irrigated with two replacement levels of crop evapotranspiration (ETc). The experimental design was randomized blocks in a 5x2 factorial scheme with four replications. The factors were dual-purpose sorghum hybrids (AGRI 002-E, AGRI G1, AGRI G2, BREVANT SS318 and BRS 58) and water replacement levels (50% and 100% of ETc). The replacement of 50% of ETc was defined as water deficit (WD). The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, and sorghum was grown in pots. The mean comparison test showed that plants under WD condition had low values of height, stem diameter, leaf area, chlorophyll content, and a 37% reduction in shoot dry mass productivity. The analysis of principal components revealed that the correlations between the variables changed according to the water regimes. Under WD, water productivity, shoot dry mass, and leaf area index were highly correlated with each other and with the hybrid AGRI 002-E. The hybrid AGRI 002-E showed better performance under normal irrigation conditions, while under WD conditions, the hybrids BREVANT SS318 and BRS 658 also showed good performance. Hybrids with higher leaf area and water productivity performed better under water-scarcity conditions