VCS-Tornasol: cultivar of white forage sorghum for the state of Sinaloa

Abstract

Mexico is the fourth world producer of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench.) with a 10% of world production, 94.3% goes to the production of balanced feed for livestock. In Sinaloa, 70% of the sorghum is grown under rainy season conditions corresponding to the spring summer cycle, with average yields of 1.29 t ha-1 of grain and 9.54 t ha-1 of green fodder. In recent years it has been possible to identify new genotypes with greater tolerance to diseases than commercial hybrids, so in the program of genetic improvement of sorghum of the Valley of Culiacan Experimental Field the variety ‘VCS-Tornasol’ was released, which presents greater tolerance a: ergot caused by Claviceps african, anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum graminícola, blight of the panicle caused by Fusarium moniliforme and carbonaceous rot of the stem caused by Macrophomina phaseolina. It is currently registered in the National Catalog of Plant Varieties (CNVV) of the SINCS with the number SOG-285-231117 and number of breeder’s title 1889. The variety VCS-Tornasol is of intermediate vegetative cycle, has a plant height of 2.40 m, its spikes are medium (24 cm), semicompact, with good excersion (30 cm), the grain is cream or amber, circular and semi-flat, with testa and endosperm crystalline and medium texture. In yield trials carried out over a period of six years during the spring-summer cycle under temporary, VCS-Tornasol yielded an average of 3 100 kg ha-1 of grain, exceeding by 9.67% the average of three commercial controls, the production of low forage temporary conditions yielded on average 39 775 kg ha-1, surpassing 49.21% to the average of the commercial control.