The Land Institute is developing perennial grains to be grown in prairie-like mixtures. One approach involves the development of a perennial grain sorghum by crossing tetraploid Sorghum bicolor with wild S. halepense to combine high seed yield with overwintering ability via rhizome production. We grew tetraploid S. bicolor, F1 hybrid (BC0), and two backcross generations (BC1 and BC2) in a randomized block design to examine total biomass, seed yield, and allocation to plant parts within and across generations. Root, rhizome, stem and leaf, and total biomass decreased from the BC0 to BC2 to S. bicolor generations, whereas panicle mass, seed mass, and reproductive allocation were lowest in the BC0 generation (p < 0.05, ANOVA). Mean seed mass (g ∙ plant−1) was 39.1 in the BC0, 107.3 in the BC1, 84.1 in the BC2, and 92.7 for the S. bicolor parent, which translated into yields of 171.9, 471.6, 396.7, and 407.5 g ∙ m−2, respectively. Reproductive allocation varied from 14.7% in BC0 to 28.9% in BC2 compared with 33.5% in S. bicolor. Mean allocation to rhizomes was 2.71% in BC0 but negligible in BC1 and BC2. There was no relationship between rhizome mass and seed mass within any generation, but there was a positive correlation between total plant mass and rhizome mass in BC0. We divided the BC0 population into four groups with respect to rhizome production and found no significant differences among the groups in plant size or seed yield. Within each generation, reproductive allocation was inversely related to culm mass. The lack of an apparent trade-off between allocation to rhizome versus allocation to seed within any generation supports the possibility of combining within a population high seed yield and production of perennating belowground organs. Key words: backcross, hybrid, perennial grains, reproductive allocation, rhizome, seed mass, Sorghum bicolor, Sorghum halepense.
Nature-based agricultural solutions: Scaling perennial grains across Africa
