Achievements in broomcorn breeding

Abstract

Broomcorn (Sorghum bicolor L) Moench) is an industrial crop grown for its panicles used as the basic raw material in manufacturing of corn brooms. Broomcorn breeding in the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad lasts from 1952 until today. This period of time could be devided into three cycles of breeding (first: 1952-1967; second: 1968-1986 and third drom 1987 until present). One of the most important tasks has been the creation of dwarf cultivars with short stalk. The improvement of the quality of the panicle (appearance of the panicle, panicle color, brush length, brush number per panicle i brush fineness) attracted special attention. The breeding for suitability to machine harvest is based on lenghtening of the peduncle. The breeding for disease resistance is focused on anthracnosis (Colletotricbum graminicola (Ces) G.W.Wils) and Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virus (MDMV). Creating F1 hybrid cultivars is the latest trend in broomcorn breeding enabled by the utilization cytoplasmic-genic male sterility. A large collection of broomcorn germplasm is maintained serving as the genetic basis for further breeding as well as to preserve the available genetic resources of broomcorn.

Sirak metlaš (Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench) je industrijska biljka koja se gaji zbog metlice kao osnovne sirovine za proizvodnju sirkovih metli. Oplemenjivanje sirka metlaša u Naučnom institutu za ratarstvo i povrtarstvo Novi Sad odvija se neprekidno od 1952. godine. U ovom periodu razlikuju se tri cuklusa oplemenjivanja (prvi: 1952-1967; drugi: 1968-1986 i treći: 1987 do danas). Jedan od najvažnijih zadataka oplemenjivanje je bio stvaranje tzv. patuljastih sorti sa niskim sablom. Oplemenjivanju na kvalitet metlica (izgled metlice, boja metlice, dužina peteljki, broj peteljki i finoća peteljki) posvećena je posebna pažnja. Oplemenjivanje na lakoću žetve metlica se odvija stvaranjem sorti sa eksponiranom metlicom što se postiže produživanjem drške metlice. U okviru oplemenjivanja na otpornost prema bolestima najvažnije mesto zauzimaju antraknoza (prouzrokovač (Colletotricbum graminicola Ces) G.W.Wils) i virus mozaične kržljavosti kukuruza (VMKK). Stvaranje F1 hibridnih sorti je savremeni trend u oplemenjivanju sirka metlaša koji je omogućen korišćenjem citoplzmatsko-genetske muške sterilnosti. Kolekcija germplazme sirka metlaša služi kao izvorni materijal za oplemenjivanje i u cilju očuvanja genetičkih resursa sirka metlaša.