Morphological Characterization and Evaluation Studies of Sorghum

As one of the leading traditional food cereals in Ethiopia, in terms of both total production and area, major research efforts have been directed towards the improvement and stabilization of sorghum yields. At a national level, sorghum improvement involves the manipulation of indigenous and introduced germplasm to develop adapted types for the various ecological zones (Yilma, 1991). Ethiopia has a diverse wealth of sorghum germplasm adapted to a range of altitudes and rainfall conditions. Because of its global socio-economic importance, there is a constant need for the improvement of sorghum (Vittal et al., 2010). There is high genetic diversity in sorghum in Ethiopia with several pockets of geographical isolation. The current number of indigenous sorghum germplasm contained in the gene bank stands at about 6 thousand and represents a wide array of diversity in the major sorghum growing areas of Ethiopia. This could serve as valuable genetic base for breeding and improvement of the crop in the country and the world at large (Wasihun, 2007).