EVALUATION OF MIXTURES OF SORGHUM HYBRIDS UNDER SEASONAL CONDITIONS IN THE CIENEGA DE CHAPALA

Abstract

^{Making use of the synergistic interactions that occur when associating different genotypes of the same species can be an alternative to increase yields, reduce diseases or to cushion certain climatological effects on crops. In order to determine if the mixtures offer advantages in yield or disease reduction, mechanical mixtures of grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) formed from commercial hybrids were evaluated under rainfed conditions in the Ciénega de Chapala.The evaluation included a total of 20 mixtures that resulted from combining two hybrids of intermediate precocity, two intermediate-late and one late, in proportions of 50+50, 75+25, and a single one of 25+25+25+25%. The results indicated that, in 62% of the mixtures, grain yields were numerically higher than the average of their individual components, obtaining gains that varied from 5 to 17%; The best treatment of the mixtures surpassed the best of the controls by 8.6% and the mixtures slightly reduced the incidence of diseases in magnitude that varied from 0.1 to 0.5
on a rating scale of one to five.}