Functional Characterization of Water Saving Traits to Enhance Drought Adaptation in Sorghum
Sabavat Raju Naik
Department of Agricultural Botany, College of Agriculture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, India and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi–Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Telangana, India.
SP Mehtre *
Department of Agricultural Botany, College of Agriculture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, India.
Damaris A Odeny
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi–Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Telangana, India.
HV Kalpande
Department of Agricultural Botany, College of Agriculture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, India.
RR Dhutmal
Department of Agricultural Botany, College of Agriculture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, India.
AW More
Department of Agricultural Botany, College of Agriculture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, India.
Kailamoorthy
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi–Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Telangana, India.
DK Zate
Department of Agricultural Botany, College of Agriculture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, India.
M Wankhade
Department of Agricultural Botany, College of Agriculture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench), a key staple in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, is increasingly challenged by climate variability. In India, post-rainy sorghum remains a vital food and fodder crop. In alignment with the ICRISAT post-rainy sorghum product profile, this study characterized sorghum parental lines for key traits associated with drought adaptation in pot using the dry-down experiment. The atmospheric drought experiments revealed significant genotypic variation in transpiration rate (TR) under high vapor pressure deficit (VPD), with K359W showing restricted TR and R16 exhibiting high TR. In soil drought trials, transpiration decline began at an FTSW of 0.49 in K359W and 0.56 in R16. K359W consistently outperformed R16 in plant growth, water use, biomass, and showed higher transpiration efficiency (TE). Genotypes with greater vigor, reduced TR under high VPD, and higher TE offer strong potential for improving post-rainy sorghum drought resilience.
Keywords: Sorghum, stay-green, drought stress, dry-down, VPD, nodal roots