Spatial and temporal patterns of lodging in grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in Australia
Xuemin Wang
A , Emma Mace A B , Colleen Hunt A B , Alan Cruickshank B , Graeme Hammer C and David Jordan A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, Warwick, Qld 4370, Australia.
B Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Warwick, Qld 4370, Australia.
C Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: david.jordan@uq.edu.au
Crop and Pasture Science 71(4) 379-388 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP19296
Submitted: 19 July 2019 Accepted: 31 January 2020 Published: 18 April 2020
Abstract
Grown in water-limited environments, sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is often exposed to water deficits of varying extent and timing. One of the impacts of water stress on sorghum production is lodging; however, there has been no published study quantifying the temporal and spatial frequency and severity of lodging in grain sorghum in Australia. In this study, we investigated the frequency and severity of lodging, using a dataset of 83 advanced yield-testing trials of the sorghum pre-breeding program grown in the seven major sorghum-production environments in Australia over 14 summer growing seasons. Lodging occurred in most production regions but with varying frequency and severity. Lodging was significantly greater in regions that were more prone to water stress (e.g. Central Highlands in Queensland) and significantly lower in regions that were less likely to suffer from water stress (e.g. Liverpool Plains in northern New South Wale) compared with the overall average across regions. The severity of lodging also varied across regions, with the most severe lodging (>20%) occurring in Central Highlands and Western Downs in Queensland. In addition, seasonal patterns of lodging frequency and severity were also observed. Over the 14 growing seasons, the frequency of lodging varied from 0% to 100%, with the most severe lodging (>20%) observed in 2005, 2016 and 2017. The Southern Oscillation Index explained 29% of the seasonal variation in lodging frequency. The findings of this study clearly support a link between lodging incidence and water stress across regions and seasons. Our data also showed that although there was a substantial turnover of commercial hybrids during the period of this study, the level of resistance to lodging appeared not to have improved. It is possible that this is due to plant breeders trading off improvements in lodging resistance to increase grain yield.
Additional keywords: commercial hybrids, drought, geographical variation in lodging, lodging resistance, seasonal variation in lodging.
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