Geographic distribution of basic and intermediate races in the world collection of sorghum germplasm

The sorghum germplasm collection at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is reviewed. The characteristics of the five basic races of sorghum, (bicolor, guinea, caudatum, kafir and durra) are described, and their usage discussed. The geographical distribution of the five basic races and ten intermediate races is tabulated by country. This shows that racial divergence in sorghum is related to geographic origin. The genebank at ICRISAT currently conserves 36?774 accessions from ninety countries with the basic races durra, caudatum and guinea representing 21.8, 20.9 and 13.4% of the collection, respectively.