Data on genetic dissection and QTL mapping of fodder quality traits in Sorghum under different water regimes

The data belong to sorghum recombinant inbred population (RIL) derived from parents segregating for fodder quality traits (identified from the previous study, Vinutha et. al., 2020, Current Pl Biology; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpb.2020.100191) viz., in-vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and dry stalk yield (Biomass). The objective is to evaluate the population under drought and control conditions for two years to identify quantitative trait loci analysis associated with fodder quality. Phenotypic trials were conducted for 2 years (from November to March, in 2016 and 2017, in BM8A, BM8C) at ICRISAT. The experiments were conducted in post-rainy seasons, this would be appropriate to assess the terminal drought stress, using Alpha Lattice design, with three replications under drought (irrigation withheld) and three under controlled (well-irrigated). The following traits were recorded in the field, days to fifty percent flowering, plant height, fresh biomass, dry biomass, and grain weight. The fodder quality assessment was performed in collaboration with ILRI-INDIA with the details mentioned below. The biomass was dried, chopped, and ground (to allow the powder to pass through a 1mm sieve). Later the biomass was scanned in Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) calibrated against conventional wet laboratory analyses and the following parameters were recorded, nitrogen on dry matter basis (NDM), acid and neutral detergent fiber (ADF and NDF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), metabolizable energy (ME) and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD). The NIRS instrument used was a FOSS Forage Analyzer 5000 (FOSS XDS RCA, Win ISI IV, Denmark) with software package Win ISI II. Experiment location on Google Map