Sorghum bicolor (L.) is an important cereal crop in Ethiopia primarily growing as food grain crop. In spite of the huge genetic potential, productivity of sorghum is low due to frequency of drought occurrence. Root system architecture influences the amount of water important for maintaining crop yield under moisture stress. This study was conducted with the objective of estimating of genetic variability of 214 sorghum genotypes for root and shoot traits during seedling stage. The experiment was conducted at greenhouse of Horticulture and Plant science Department of Jimma University using randomized complete block design. Analysis of variance showed that highly significant difference among the genotypes (P < 0.01) in all studied traits. Root angle ranged between 14.5° (Acc#23650) and 27.37° (Acc#6723). Root number ranged between 6 and 15, root length between 40 and 72 cm and root to shoot ratio ranged between 0.17 and 0.78. Genotypes from Ethiopian Biodiversity (IBC) and ICRISAT were showed more root angle genetic variations. Similarly for other root system architecture (RSA) traits such as root length, root number and root dry weight, Ethiopian Biodiversity (IBC) and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) genotypes showed more genetic diversity than the released varieties. Phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was between 29.19% for leaf area and 13.46% for root length, and genotypic coefficient variation (GCV) was 28.19% for leaf area and 11.94% for root angle. Estimates of broad sense heritability were between 40% for root dry weight and 94.18% for leaf area. Generally the information generated from this study could help to identified promising genotypes with suitable root traits for potential breeding under specific environmental conditions.

高粱（L.）是埃塞俄比亚重要的谷类作物，主要作为粮食作物生长。尽管具有巨大的遗传潜力，但由于干旱发生的频率，高粱的生产力仍然很低。根系体系结构影响水分含量，这对于保持水分胁迫下的作物产量至关重要。进行本研究的目的是估算214种高粱基因型在苗期根和芽性状的遗传变异。该实验是在吉马大学园艺与植物科学系的温室中使用随机完整区组设计进行的。方差分析表明，所有研究性状的基因型之间存在极显着差异（P <0.01）。根角介于14.5°（Acc＃23650）和27.37°（Acc＃6723）之间。根数介于6到15之间 根长在40到72厘米之间，根冠比在0.17到0.78之间。来自埃塞俄比亚生物多样性（IBC）和ICRISAT的基因型显示出更多的根角遗传变异。同样，对于其他根系结构（RSA）特性，例如根长，根数和根干重，埃塞俄比亚生物多样性（IBC）和国际半干旱热带作物研究所（ICRISAT）基因型显示的遗传多样性要比已发布的品种更高。叶面积的表型变异系数（PCV）为29.19％，根长为13.46％，叶面积的表型变异系数（GCV）为28.19％，根角为11.94％。广义遗传力的估计值在根干重的40％和叶面积的94.18％之间。