Sorghum
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum is called "the camel of crops". It has earned this name because of its ability to grow in arid soils and withstand prolonged droughts. The crop plays a major role in the food security of millions of people in marginal agricultural areas. It occupies 25% or more of arable land in Mauritania, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Somalia and Yemen, and globally it is the fifth largest cereal crop after wheat, rice, maize and barley.
Origin and distribution
Sorghum was first domesticated across a belt between Chad and western Ethiopia. The qualities of this hardy cereal were quickly appreciated in other parts of the world and already by the second and third millennia BC it was widespread across the Indian peninsula. Although the largest bulk producer today is the USA, about 90% of the area planted to sorghum lies in developing countries, mainly in Africa and Asia where it is grown for subsistence in smallholders fields.
Diversity
Sorghum displays an impressive diversity in both its qualities as a food grain and in its ecological adaptations and appearance. Although particularly adapted to drought prone areas that are too dry for maize, the diversity of the crop allows it also to be grown in temperate and high altitude conditions.
Birds share our fondness for sorghum, posing a problem in farmers' fields. A traditional way of using crop diversity to combat this problem in Africa, and a good example of environmentally-friendly pest control, has been to grow bitter varieties with a high tannin content. These varieties are not edible in unprocessed form for either birds or humans, but fermenting or cooking makes the "bird resistant" grain good human food.
Use
The crop has multiple uses beyond using the grain as food. A sweet syrup is made from the juice of the stems in the southern United States. The cereal makes excellent brew for beer and other alcoholic beverages. The plant is used as animal fodder after harvest, and the straw is often used for fencing and building material for huts. Roots are used as fuel for cooking. Now sorghum is also grown as an energy crop, producing ethanol from the sweet sorghum variety for use as bio-fuel. Sorghum is also used in the production of wallboard in the housing industry and in biodegradable packaging materials.
Collections
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) located in India, serves as a world centre for improving sorghum's grain yield and quality. ICRISAT stewards the international collection of more than 36,000 samples of sorghum types. Other large collections of sorghum are conserved in the USA, India, China, Brazil, Russia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Australia and Sudan.
For more information on sorghum conservation and collections, see the Strategy for the Global Ex Situ Conservation of Sorghum Genetic Diversity. In working to secure the diversity of sorghum, the Trust has signed an agreement to support the international collection of sorghum at ICRISAT with long-term funding.
Sorghum is called "the camel of crops". It has earned this name because of its ability to grow in arid soils and withstand prolonged droughts. The crop plays a major role in the food security of millions of people in marginal agricultural areas. It occupies 25% or more of arable land in Mauritania, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Somalia and Yemen, and globally it is the fifth largest cereal crop after wheat, rice, maize and barley.
Origin and distribution
Sorghum was first domesticated across a belt between Chad and western Ethiopia. The qualities of this hardy cereal were quickly appreciated in other parts of the world and already by the second and third millennia BC it was widespread across the Indian peninsula. Although the largest bulk producer today is the USA, about 90% of the area planted to sorghum lies in developing countries, mainly in Africa and Asia where it is grown for subsistence in smallholders fields.
Diversity
Sorghum displays an impressive diversity in both its qualities as a food grain and in its ecological adaptations and appearance. Although particularly adapted to drought prone areas that are too dry for maize, the diversity of the crop allows it also to be grown in temperate and high altitude conditions.
Birds share our fondness for sorghum, posing a problem in farmers' fields. A traditional way of using crop diversity to combat this problem in Africa, and a good example of environmentally-friendly pest control, has been to grow bitter varieties with a high tannin content. These varieties are not edible in unprocessed form for either birds or humans, but fermenting or cooking makes the "bird resistant" grain good human food.
Use
The crop has multiple uses beyond using the grain as food. A sweet syrup is made from the juice of the stems in the southern United States. The cereal makes excellent brew for beer and other alcoholic beverages. The plant is used as animal fodder after harvest, and the straw is often used for fencing and building material for huts. Roots are used as fuel for cooking. Now sorghum is also grown as an energy crop, producing ethanol from the sweet sorghum variety for use as bio-fuel. Sorghum is also used in the production of wallboard in the housing industry and in biodegradable packaging materials.
Collections
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) located in India, serves as a world centre for improving sorghum's grain yield and quality. ICRISAT stewards the international collection of more than 36,000 samples of sorghum types. Other large collections of sorghum are conserved in the USA, India, China, Brazil, Russia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Australia and Sudan.
For more information on sorghum conservation and collections, see the Strategy for the Global Ex Situ Conservation of Sorghum Genetic Diversity. In working to secure the diversity of sorghum, the Trust has signed an agreement to support the international collection of sorghum at ICRISAT with long-term funding.