| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4512456 | Industrial Crops and Products | 2016 | 10 Pages |
•A meta-analysis was applied on 24 sorghum trials conducted over seven years in Italy.•Hybrids, landraces, and lines were compared for biofuel production relevant traits.•Hybrids outperformed landraces and lines for most traits including biomass yield.•Landraces outyielded lines and are an attractive alternative to hybrids and lines.•Biomass yield advantage was mostly explained by plant height and cellulosic content.
Sorghum crop demonstrated high yield potential under drought and wet environments with a better energy balance than several cultivated plants. Sorghum biomass can contribute to solving the pressing issue of reducing reliance on fossil fuel. Africa and Asia are sorghum centers of diversity, and landraces therefrom can be of great breeding and production interests in the Mediterranean region. Several works evaluated biomass sorghums, but results on comparative performance between lines, landraces and hybrids are lacking. The objective of this work was to assess the performance of these genotypic groups for traits relevant for biofuel conversions, by carrying out a meta-analysis of data from twenty-four trials conducted in different Mediterranean locations in Italy over seven years. Obtained results showed sorghum hybrids as the best biofuel feedstock option as they outperformed landraces and lines for most traits including biomass yield. Landraces represented an attractive alternative to hybrids and lines as they outyielded lines and were second only to hybrids in terms of biomass production and cellulosic content. Biomass yield advantage was explained by increased plant tallness and cellulosic content in hybrids, and cellulosic content in landraces, and to a lesser extent, by plant maturity in hybrids and landraces. Based on biomass quality and quantity, hybrids and landraces can supply thermal, thermochemical and biochemical biofuel conversion industries. Sorghum lines could be better used in first generation biofuel and energy bioconversion technologies requiring lower lignin containing feedstocks. Landraces and lines could be targeted to areas where hybrid seed production industry is not developed.
