Abstract:
Eastern Province is a major sorghum growing zone in Kenya. There exist different composites,
landraces, open pollinated and wild relatives of sorghum that are not yet known. The landraces
continue to be maintained by cultural preferences and traditional practices by the farmers. Germplasm
collection of landraces was done in four regions; Mbeere, Makueni, Kitui and Mutomo in the eastern
province of Kenya which are major sorghum growing zones. At time of collection information on traits
preferred, seed source and variety type was recorded for each accession. The seed color and name of
region collected were used to identify the different landraces. Forty four different landraces were
collected from different farmers in the region. Mbeere region had the most landraces available with
diverse colorations a clear indication of a possibility of sorghum complex in this particular region
compared to Kitui, Mutomo and Makueni. The landraces are unique in their adaptation, food quality,
grain yield, quality of harvested products, biotic stress resistance and post-harvest processing. These
untapped resources could be useful in crop improvement programmes and in food security. The
decline in use of the landraces may erode the genetic base and prevent use of distinctive traits in crop
adaptation and improvement.
