Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)

Description

Sorghum, an important staple food crop in Africa, South Asia, and Central America, is the fifth major cereal crop in the world after wheat, rice, maize and barley. It is also grown in the United States, Australia, and other developed nations for animal feed. An annual grass that varies between 0.5 and 5.0 meters in height, sorghum produces one or several tillers, which emerge initially from the base and later from the stem nodes. The flower is a panicle, usually erect, but sometimes recurved to form a goose neck.

Sorghum, which is particularly adapted to drought prone areas, is a crop of hot, semi-arid tropical environments with 400 - 600 mm rainfall-areas that are too dry for maize. Sorghum is also found in temperate regions and at altitudes of up to 2300 meters in the tropics.

Historians believe that sorghum originated in North East Africa where a large variability in wild and cultivated species is still found today. It was probably domesticated in Ethiopia between 5000 and 7000 years ago. From there, it was distributed along trade and shipping routes around the African continent, and through the Middle East to India at least 3000 years ago. It then journeyed along the Silk Route into China. Sorghum was first taken to America through the slave trade from West Africa. It was re-introduced in the late 19th century for commercial cultivation and subsequently spread to South America and Australia.

Statistics

In 2004, global sorghum production stood at 58 million tons. It is grown on 44 million ha in 99 countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Major producers are the USA, India, Nigeria, China, Mexico, Sudan and Argentina.

In India, sorghum is grown on 9.2M hectares . This represents 21% of the world's sorghum area.

How Sorghum is Used

Sorghum is a main staple of people's diet in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. It is consumed in the form of stiff or thin porridges, as a steam-cooked product, such as couscous, or as a beverage. In Western Africa, Nigeria has emerged as a pioneer in the industrial utilization of sorghum. In Latin America, people mainly use it as animal feed.

CGIAR Research in Sorghum

One of the CGIAR Research Centers, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) located in India, serves as a world center for improving sorghum's grain yield and quality. ICRISAT holds 36,729 accessions of sorghum.

ICRISAT scientists have successfully bred improved early-maturing sorghum varieties. These varieties have been hits with subsistence farmers, who say it makes first-class flour. Scientists at ICRISAT have also been able to develop soghum varieties resistant to sorghum midge, a very destructive pest causing millions of dollars in losses in India, Yemen, and Africa.

Recently, a new sorghum ICSV 111 IN has been very popular among Ghanaian farmers. Its main characteristics are its tolerance to striga, excellent brewing qualities, its short duration (allowing it to escape drought and fit into different cropping systems), and its high yield potential.

For more information on sorghum from the ICRISAT web site, click here.

Sources

Technical Advisory Committee: CGIAR Priorities and Strategies
for Resource Allocation during 1998-2000.
April 1997.

ICRISAT Annual Report 1996.

ICRISAT Website

Sorghum and Millets : Commodity and Research Environments.
ICRISAT. 1993.

FAO Production Yearbook 1996. vol. 50.

Partnerships in Research for Development
ICRISAT, April 1998.