Purpose of description

P i r i ra 1 is a h i g h - y i e l d i n g , medium-duration, drought-resistant sorghum variety recommended for general c u l t i v a t i on in M a l a w i , and specifically for the hot, humid, lower Shire r i v e r basin. It was released by the National Cultivar Release Committee of M a l a w i on the basis of its hard grains, to replace the soft-grained commercial variety, PN 3.

Origin and development

P i r i ra 1 was d e r i v e d f r om a l i ne developed at ICRISAT A s i a Center (IAC), by pedigree selection f r om a simple cross between SC 108-3 and CS 3541. The l i ne was supplied w i t h pedigree (SC 108-3 x CS 3541)19-1, as part of ICRISAT's International Sorghum Variety Adaptation T r i a l . I t was tested as an F6 b u l k f r om 1979 at I AC locations and in multilocational y i e l d trials across the semi-arid tropics (SAT). The collaborative t r i a ls w i t h the M a l a w i national agricultural research system were conducted at K a - sinthula and Ngabu Research Stations, Malawi and the Southern A f r i c a n Development Community (SADC)/ICRISAT Sorghum and M i l l e t Improvement Project (SMIP) Bulawayo, Zimbabwe f r om 1984/85 t o 1992/93.