RA 00048.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

Presentation of Award
J. Roy Q u i n b y w a s p r e s e n t e d w i t h a marble mosaic plaque w i t h the following inscription:
In recognition of 57 years contribution to our knowledge of sorghum by the delegates of the
Sorghum in the Eighties Symposium, Hyderabad, India.
November 2 - 7 . 1981"
J . Roy Quinby w a s e m p l o y e d t o w o r k o n s o r g h u m
at t h e Chillicothe Station at Texas A & M University
in 1924, 57 years ago. O n e of his earliest
publications appeared in 1 9 3 1 . He b e c a m e superintendent
of t h e station in 1925 and at that t i m e
his lifelong associate, J. C. Stephens w a s also
e m p l o y e d there.
M r . Q u i n b y has pioneered our k n o w l e d g e of t h e
inheritance of maturity in s o r g h u m w i t h the first
publication appearing in 1945. He also undertook
t h e study of t h e genetic control of plant height and
published in 1954. The understanding of t h e
inheritance of t h e s e t w o traits has been f u n ­
d a m e n t a l to all s o r g h u m scientists w o r k i n g to
adapt s o r g h u m to n e w areas or n e w situations
leading to i m p r o v e d production.
M r . Q u i n b y has had a long interest in t h e
c o m m e r c i a l use of hybrids including t h e use of
m a l e sterility to facilitate s e e d production.
There are major papers concerning hybrid vigor
that w e r e published by Karper and Quinby in
1937, and by Stephens and Quinby in 1952.
Results s h o w i n g substantial increases in yield d u e
to hybrid vigor w e r e p r e s e n t e d in t h e s e papers. I
w o u l d like t o read f r o m Mr. Q u i n b y ' s o w n w r i t i n g
in a TAES publication "A T r i u m p h of Research....Sorghum
in T e x a s . " "Dr. R. D. L e w i s c a m e
to Texas in 1946 to be Director of the Texas
Agricultural E x p e r i m e n t Station. W h i l e h e w a s
visiting at t h e Chillicothe Station I s h o w e d Dr.
L e w i s a m a n u s c r i p t that contained a picture w i t h
t h e caption The use of hybrid vigor in s o r g h u m
a w a i t s t h e solution of p r o b l e m s in t h e economical
production of hybrid s e e d .
" B e f o r e Dr. L e w i s left t h e Chillicothe Station
that day he told Stephens and me that he w o u l d
approve a proposal for research on m e t h o d s of
producing hybrid s o r g h u m s e e d i f w e w o u l d
prepare s u c h a proposal." Roy Quinby and his
associates undertook to i m p l e m e n t Hatch Project
6 1 0 dated 4 October 1947. The objective of this
project w a s to produce seed of s o r g h u m hybrids
in commercially useful a m o u n t s .
In 1948 Stephens felt that he had identified
cytoplasmic male-sterility. Again quoting Mr.
Quinby, "Early one morning in 1952 Stephens and
I decided that cytoplasmic male-sterility looked
t o o g o o d t o abandon" and w o r k o n other m e c h a n ­
isms of male-sterility w e r e terminated. By 1955,
seven hybrids w e r e considered to be useful for
farmer production. Mr. Quinby and J.C. Stephens
shared the Hoblitzelle A w a r d for The A d v a n c e ­
m e n t of Texas Rural Life.
Events m o v e d rapidly; by 1957 there w a s
sufficient hybrid seed t o s o w 1 5 % o f t h e s o r g h u m
acreage in the USA and by 1960 s o m e 9 5 % w a s
s o w n . Hybrids combined w i t h irrigation and increased
use of fertilizer increased s o r g h u m production
in the USA threefold w i t h little increase in
acreage.
Mr. Quinby joined the Pioneer Seed C o m p a n y
in 1961 after retiring f r o m the Texas A & M
University. Quinby m a d e the first cross to start a
c o n v e r s i o n program in January 1962. J. C.
Stephens prepared a proposal to undertake a
tropical conversion program using facilities of t h e
U.S. Department of Agriculture in Puerto Rico in
t h e tropics and those of the Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station, at Chillicothe, in t h e t e m p e r ­
ate zone. The proposal w a s approved by t h e
Texas Station and U.S. D e p a r t m e n t of Agriculture
in June 1963 and w o r k began at Mayaguez,
Puerto Rico, in the fall of that year. All s o r g h u m
scientists are aware of this conversion program
and m o s t of t h e m are using converted lines in
their breeding programs. This program has b e e n
invaluable as a source of resistance traits and has
contributed to yield i m p r o v e m e n t in m a n y places
in t h e w o r l d .
Today, Roy Quinby is actively involved in t h e
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