Molecular Plant Breeding 2024, Vol.15, No.6, 362-370 http://genbreedpublisher.com/index.php/mpb 365 environments, and their interactions (p < 0.000 1), further emphasizing the complexity of G×E interactions (Ndiaye et al., 2019). These statistical approaches are crucial for understanding the factors influencing yield performance and for making informed breeding decisions. 5 Hybrid Sorghum Varieties: Case Studies 5.1 Case study: high-yielding hybrid sorghum varieties in Africa In Africa, the development of high-yielding hybrid sorghum varieties has been a significant focus to enhance food security and improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. One notable study evaluated the performance of sorghum hybrids in West Africa, revealing that these hybrids exhibited substantial yield advantages over traditional varieties. For instance, hybrids developed from Guinea-race parents showed yield increases ranging from 20% to 80% under both low and high phosphorus conditions, demonstrating their potential to thrive in low-input farming systems (Figure 1) (Kante et al., 2019). Additionally, another study in Mali confirmed that photoperiod-sensitive sorghum hybrids derived from West African Guinea-race parents provided yield advantages of 17% to 37% over local landrace varieties, with significant yield improvements observed across various productivity levels (Rattunde et al., 2013). Figure 1 Grain yields (g m-2) of Set 1 hybrids, grouped by male parents and presented as boxplots, from single environments in Samanko (Sko) and Kolombada (Kda) under low- and high-P (LP and HP, respectively) conditions in 2015 and 2016 (Adopted from Kante et al., 2019) Image caption: each colored box corresponds to 25% above and 25% below the median for that group, midlines of each boxplot represent the median, whiskers indicate the total range, and circles denote outlier values. Plus signs indicate the mean of hybrids of a given male parent. Stars denote the yield of that male parent, and the numbers above and below each box indicate the count of hybrids significantly superior to Tieble and the total number of hybrids, respectively. The solid and the dashed horizontal lines represent the grain yield means of all hybrids and the landrace check Tieble, respectively, and the dot-dash horizontal lines represent the grain yield of the landrace check Ngolofing in 2015 or Woroponi in 2016. Distances (positive or negative) between the mean of each parent's hybrids and the overall hybrid mean yield indicate the general combining ability values of a given parent (Adopted from Kante et al., 2019)
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