Research Updates

Sorghum and Millet Publications available New

Background Information on Sorghum

Sorghum, together with millet, represents Africa’s most important contribution to world food supply.  Sorghum was domesticated in Ethiopia and parts of Congo, with secondary centers of origin in India, Sudan and Nigeria.

Crop ecologists have described five races of cultivated sorghum which have come into common usage among sorghum breeders.  They are:  durra, kafir, guinea, bicolor and caudatum.  All five major races of sorghum originated and continue to be cultivated in Africa, with several races often being used for differing purposes within the same agro-ecosystem.  Guinea sorghum varieties are cultivated primarily in west and central Africa, with some land races spreading as far south as Mozambique.  Kaffir types originated in eastern and southern Africa.  Durra sorghums developed primarily in Ethiopia and the Horn, but are also spread across a wide section of Nigeria and savanna areas of West Africa.  Caudatum varieties were developed in Kenya and Ethiopia.  Bicolor, the least important of cultivated races, is sparsely distributed through east Africa.

Although sorghum cultivation has become an important component of agriculture in various industrial countries, it remains largely a developing country crop.  Ninety percent of the world’s area cultivated to sorghum is in developing countries, mainly in Africa and Asia.  In Africa, 74% of sorghum produced is consumed in the home, primarily as thick or thin porridges, or as traditional beer.  Other African foods prepared from sorghum include green ears, flat breads and rice-like dishes prepared using boiled sorghum.  Sorghum stover is an important source of animal feed in mixed farming situations.

Sorghum has a nutritional profile roughly similar to that of maize.  Most varieties register approximately 9% protein, generally 1-2% higher than maize, however, sorghum is generally lower in fat content by a similar amount.  Both grains are low in lysine, however, the crude protein digestibility of sorghum is severely reduced by high percentages of prolamine and tanins, necessitating additional processing of grain in the home. It is probably due to the grain’s prolamine content that sorghum is often fermented prior to consuming.  Tanins (present to discourage bird damage) are removed in the de-hulling process.

In 1995, world production of sorghum was 53 million MT, or, 4% of total cereal production, making sorghum the world’s fourth most important grain crop.  Due to its excellent adaptation to semi-arid and arid climates, the proportion of total grain production represented by sorghum in semi-arid countries of Africa is very high.

Challenges for genetic improvement of sorghum are in further developing and deploying resistance to the parasitic weed, Striga, and Anthracnose disease.  In some areas of Africa, the development of adapted hybrid varieties of sorghum may represent the primary means available for increasing yield.