Haiti: Genomic assisted selection in sorghum

Increasing the rate of genetic gain in a low budget developing country sorghum breeding program using genomic assisted selection

This project aims to validate an integrated approach combining the use of novel breeding tools that allow an increase genetic gain over time and aimed to evaluate with growers the first sorghum inbred. The project activities include:

1. Compare S1 and S2 from one cycle of phenotypic recurrent selection (initiated at the same time as our Genomic Selection cycle 1) to S1 and S2 lines from 1, 2 or 3 cycles of genomic assisted selection during the sorghum main growing season.
2. Participatory variety evaluation with growers (in different regions), and comparison with check (best aphid resistant released variety), of advanced line selected by genomic assisted selection (selected from training set and cycle 1 of genomic assisted selection).
3. Complete two additional cycle of genomic selection (taking us to generation 5), create a new training set, and complete the genotyping of this new training set.

Our goal is also to continuously develop new staygreen, multi-purpose varieties with broad adaptation and with significant gains for grain yield under selected tropical environments. Based on previous simulation studies conducted by our group (Muleta et al 2019), we hypothesize that the comparison of measured genetic gain between advanced inbreds selected through phenotypic or genomic recurrent selection will show genomic assisted breeding to be more cost effective and to allow for faster genetic gain. We hypothesize that the participatory variety evaluation of the first inbred developed through genomic selection will show that this new method will reduce the time to variety release and will yield varieties that are accepted by growers.