(Sorghum halepense x S. bicolor subsp. bicolor) cv. Krish x S. bicolor subsp. verticilliflorum

Short-lived perennial forage plant (3 to 5 years), drought tolerant.

Upright perennial plants with numerous tillers and stems reaching 2 to 3.5 m high, with a few short rhizomes. Blade 25-40 mm wide, and can reach more than 1m in length, glabrous except for a few hairs near the membranous ligule.  

The seeds are reddish brown in color and obovoid to ellipsoid in shape.

Approximately 3mm x 2mm; approximately. 160,000 per kg; caryopsis 187,000 per kg.

Genetic material of interest in the development of frost-resistant perennial grain sorghum.

Accession history:

'Krish' is a diploid (2n=20) forage sorghum developed in 1965 in Australia, at the Cooper Laboratory, CSIRO, Lawes, Queensland from F1 hybrid seeds which were supplied by Dr. N. Krishnaswamy of the Indian Research Council agricultural, Coimbatore, Madras.  

It is a hybrid between a diploid accession of Sorghum halepense Pers. (2n = 20), a commonly tetraploid species, and S. bicolor subsp. bicolor.

'Krish' has not been used commercially to any great extent. It has been used as a source of resistance to sugarcane mosaic virus in grain sorghum (S. bicolor) breeding.  

'Silk' is a tetraploid (2n = 40) forage sorghum selected in Australia from the progeny of a cross between 'Krish' (2n = 20) and S. bicolor subsp. verticilliflorum (syn. S. arundinaceum) (2n = 20).  

It was registered as a forage plant in 1978 and has been widely grown in New South Wales and Queensland.

'Silk' establishes easily in spring and shows early, rapid growth, early tillering and ability to compete with weeds.  

Unlike 'Krish' which had low vigor and flowered much later than 'Silk'.

It has a high degree of resistance to common foliar diseases (rust and downy mildew), as well as sugarcane mosaic virus.