A number of resistance sources have been identified against two major pests of sorghum, viz the sorghum shootfly, Atherigona soccata Rondani, and the stem-borer, Chilo partellus (Swinhoe). These identified sources of resistance were generally tall, late maturing and poor yielders. Two of these identified sources of resistance, viz. BP 53 and M 35-I, have been utilized in the breeding programme, by crossing with dwarf exotic types, which are highly susceptible to both the pests, but are agronomically desirable varieties. The crosses thus obtained were screened for their reaction to the two pests. An extensive screening programme was carried out under heavy levels of shootfly and stem-borer infestation from 1968 to 1980, which resulted in the identification of nine advanced generation derivatives possessing moderate to high levels of resistance to both shootfly and stem-borer as well as desirable agronomic characters.
The derivatives with M 35-I, as one of the parents showed more resistance to shootfly as compared to derivatives with BP 53, as one of the parents. However, in the case of resistance to stem-borer, the reverse was true.