59-05-032 Proceeding

96 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress THE IMPROVEMENT OF LOCAL CULTIVAR SORGHUM (SHWENI-15)WITHTHEAIMOFBIOETHANOLPRODUCTION THROUGH GAMMA RADIATION Nang Htwe Kham 1 , Nay Chi Win 1 and Myat Minn 1 Abstract : Induced mutagenesis has played an important role in the improvement of Sorghum. The objective was to study some quantitative traits related with high yield biomass among selected in M2 mutants for bioethanol production. A locally adapted cultivar Sorghum (Shweni-15) was irradiated with doses (0 Gy - 800 Gy) from Gamma ray 60Co source. Some promising mutants obtained in theM2 progeny included chlorophyll mutation (albina, striata, viridis), seedsmutation (small, big, white spotted, brown) and morphological mutation (early maturing, narrow leaf type, compact leaf type and dwarf plant). The early mutant matured (10) days earlier than control. The total highest frequency was found in 400 Gy. Dwarf mutant showed nearly two fold decrease in plant height as compared to high brix mutant. The biggest stem width was observed in compact leaf mutant. Among selected mutants, the most striking for bioethanol production traits were showed in high brix mutant at 300 Gy. High brix mutant showed about two fold increases in stalk weight, juice extraction and brix% value as compared to control. Small seeds mutant produced nearly double the number of seeds compared with the control. In big seed mutant and white spotted mutant, seed size increased about 35% as compared to control. The maximum grain yield was found in big seeds mutant. Keywords: Sorghum, morphological mutation, Gamma radiation, bioethanol production I. Introduction Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop in worldwide [1]. In the dry zone areas of Myanmar, sweet sorghum is also a promising new crop for bioethanol production. According to data fromMinistry of agriculture, Sorghum growing area in Myanmar is 210,000 ha. Sorghum is mainly cultivated in Mandalay, Sagaing, Kayar and Magway division [2]. Sorghum grain and straw, taken after harvesting can be used to feed cattle or other livestock and food source. Sweet sorghum stalk are rich in sugars, for biofuel production [3]. Sweet sorghum has many good characteristics such as a drought resistance (Tesso et al., 2005), water lodging tolerance, salinity resistance and with a high yield of biomass etc [4] [5]. Biofuel (bioethanol and biodiesel) produced fromrenewable energy sources are gaining importance in the light of rising fossil fuel prices, depleting oils reserves and increasing ‘green house effect’ associated with the use of fossil fuels [6]. The production of biofuel from plant-based biomass is becoming an attractive alternative to non-renewable fossil energy sources.The advantage of plant- 1 Department of Biotechnology, Mandalay Technological University, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar