Sorghum is a secondary noxious weed in Iowa because it can cause problems in corn and soybean fields, but it is also planted as a crop for syrup and grain. Horticultural selections have been made for color and height. Ornamental sorghum is an easily grown annual. The attractive seed heads can be used for fresh or dried arrangements. Many of the available selections are very tall and are a dramatic backdrop for other plants.
Sorghum bicolor;※Black Seeded Sorghum§
Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum is a secondary noxious weed in Iowa because it can cause problems in corn and soybean fields, but it is also planted as a crop for syrup and grain. Horticultural selections have been made for color and height. Ornamental sorghum is an easily grown annual. The attractive seed heads can be used for fresh or dried arrangements. Many of the available selections are very tall and are a dramatic backdrop for other plants.
Sorghum is a coarse, erect grass. Its growth characteristics can vary quite drastically and a fully matured plant can range in height from 0.45 to over 5 m. Sorghum is often fed to lactating cows, while grazing of sorghum crops by beef cattle is done on a more limited basis. Sorghum must be supplemented with protein, calcium, and other minerals, and must be cracked, rolled, or steam flaked for best animal digestibility.
Habitat: cultivated fields - especially cereal crops
Life cycle: annual
Growth Habit: 4-8 feet tall; resembles corn, but smaller
Leaves: 1-2.5 inch wide blades with white midveins
Inflorescence: July - October. Large panicles of rounded shiny black or red seeds that shatter easily.
Stem: smooth.
Root: fibrous root system; often forms brace roots as well
Similar plants: Shattercane resembles forage sorghum and corn. It is also similar to johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense), but lacks rhizomes and has tighter panicles and wider leaf blades. Shattercane is an annual, while johnsongrass is a perennial.
This is a cane like grass, up to 6m tall with large brached clusters of grains. The individual grains are small- about 3-4 mm in diameter. They vary in colour from pale yellow through reddish brown to dark brown depending on the cultivar. Most cultivars are annuals, few are perennials. Cultivated and most weedy sorghum are non-rhizomatous, culms nodes are either glabrous or shortly tomentose. The inflorescence is contracted. The branches of the inflorescence alternate.
Sorghum bicolor includes all cultivated sorghums as well as a group of semi wild plants often regarded as weeds. Historical records and archeological data have not been able to clearly state the origin and domestication of Sorghum bicolor. Previously 571 cultivars were recognized, however these cross readily without barriers of sterility or difference in genetic balance, therefore it makes sense to group them into a single species. It is for this reason that it is not an easy task for taxonomists to work with species but it is an advantage to the plant breeder because they can manipulate the genetic make-up of this group to acquire best crops.
Wild species are characterized by distinct ring of long hairs at the nodes, they have loose inflorescence with spreading branches. The branches of the inflorescence are whorled.
The leaves look much like those of maize, they sometimes roll over. A single plant may have more than two leaves.
The flower head carries two types of flowers, one type has no stalk and has both male and female parts, and the other flower is stalked and is usually male.
Summer annual, coarse, erect with much variability in growth characteristics; culms solid or sometimes with spaces in pith, 0.6每5 m tall, depending on variety and growing conditions, 5 to over 30 mm in diameter, either dry at maturity or with sweet insipid juice; leaves broad and coarse, similar in shape to those of corn but shorter and wider; blades glabrous and waxy; sheaths encircle culm and have overlapping margins; panicle erect, sometimes recurved, usually compact in most grain sorghums and more open in forage types; seed covered by glumes that may or may not be removed by threshing; prop roots may grow from culm nodes; bud at each node from which a tiller may grow; seeds white, yellow, red, or brown; panicle with up to 6,000 spikelets. Seeds 25,000 to 61,740/kg; grass sorghum 120,000 to 159,000/kg.
Stunning, rich, shiny black seedheads top this 4＊-8＊ tall heirloom broomcorn. Stout, easy, vertical and drought tolerant, this Sorghum bicolor has been grown as an important grain source for over 7,000 years, and is well known for the making of brooms (Directions for handcrafting brooms are readily available on the internet). With it＊s strong, arching, rich green corn-like foliage and 8＊-12＊ very upright stems per plant, it creates an outstanding architectural form in the garden and is really cool looking as a background to Sunflowers. Starting out as tight arching clusters, the seed heads mature into interesting and lovely sprays that make fabulous dried arrangement material. The seeds can be popped like popcorn, the stems can be chewed, and best of all the birdies love the seeds! Rich soil for best show.
Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare or Sorghum bicolor) is a grass (Family (The grasses: chiefly herbaceous but some woody plants including cereals; bamboo; reeds; sugar cane) Poaceae), the grain of which (Foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses) grain is used for (Any solid substance (as opposed to liquid) that is used as a source of nourishment) food, (Coarse food (especially for cattle and horses) composed of entire plants or the leaves and stalks of a cereal crop) fodder, and the production of (A liquor or brew containing alcohol as the active agent) alcoholic beverages. It is an important food crop in (The second largest continent; located south of Europe and bordered to the west by the South Atlantic and to the east by the Indian Ocean) Africa, (The isthmus joining North America and South America; extends from the southern border of Mexico to the northern border of Colombia) Central America, and (Click link for more info and facts about southern Asia) southern Asia, and is the fifth major (Grass whose starchy grains are used as food: wheat; rice; rye; oats; maize; buckwheat; millet) cereal crop grown in the world (470,000 km2 harvested in 1996). (A native or inhabitant of Africa) African (A person who is owned by someone) slaves introduced sorghum into the (North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776) U.S. in the early 17th century, where most of the world's sorghum is now produced.
Sorghum originated in eastern Africa and first diverged from the wild varieties in (Ethiopia is a republic in northeastern Africa on the Red Sea; formerly called Abyssinia) Ethiopia 5000 years ago. It is well adapted to growth in hot, arid or semi-arid areas. The many subspecies are divided into four groups - grain sorghums, grass sorghums (for pasture and hay), sweet sorghums (formerly called " (A republic in eastern Africa on the Atlantic; formerly a French colony; achieved independence from France in 1958) Guinea corn," used to produce sorghum syrups), and broom corn (for brooms and brushes).
In China, sorghum is the most important ingredient for the production of distilled beverages such as Maotai.
Sorghum, also known as jowar, (Sorghum vulgare or Sorghum bicolor) is a grass (family Poaceae) which is used for food, fodder, and the production of alcoholic beverages. It is drought tolerant and especially important in arid regions. It is an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia, and is the fifth major cereal crop grown in the world (470,000 km2 harvested in 1996). African slaves introduced sorghum into the U.S. in the early 17th century, where most of the world's sorghum is now produced.
Although wild varieties of Sorghum are attested as early as 8000 BP in the Nilotic regions of southern Egypt and the Sudan, the location of its true domestication within East Africa is still speculative. It is widely held that genetic separation of domesticated S. bicolor from its progenitor did not occur much before the B.C./A.D. changeover somewhere in East Africa, possibly the Ethiopian highlands, but more likely further west. The presence of true domesticated S. bicolor is claimed much earlier than this (2900-1700 B.C.) in India, Oman, and Yemen, although the identity of the remains as full domesticates is still disputed. It is well adapted to growth in hot, arid or semi-arid areas. The many subspecies are divided into four groups - grain sorghums, grass sorghums (for pasture and hay), sweet sorghums (formerly called "Guinea corn", used to produce sorghum syrups), and broom corn (for brooms and brushes).
Bhakri, a variety of unleavened bread made from sorghum, is the staple diet in many parts of India such as Maharashtra and northern Karnataka.
In China, sorghum is the most important ingredient for the production of distilled beverages such as Maotai.
Distribution and Habitat:
This crop plant has been cultivated in southern Africa for over 3 000 years.
Sorghum bicolor is an African crop, which is widely distributed throughout the world. Different cultivars are found in different regions depending on the climate. It is adapted to a wider range of ecological conditions. It is mostly a plant of hot, dry regions; still survive in a cool weather as well as waterlogged habitat.
According to People's Plants 2000 the most common cultivar in South Africa has compact elongated heads and was previously known as S .cafferorum. A form (previously known as S. dochna) with more sparse open heads is often grown for its sweet canes which are chewed like sugar cane.
Ecology:Self-pollination and cross-pollination by wind.
Origin: Africa. Time of introduction: Sorghum was introduced to the United States from Africa in the early part of the seventeenth century.
Growth habit & Regrowth type:
Sorghums have a bunch growth habit with few to many upright tillers. Forage and grain sorghums tiller less than sudangrass and sorghum x sudangrass hybrids.
Invasive potential: Low. Sorghum requires full seed-bed preparation for good performance.
PhytoChemistry and Constituents:
Per 100 g, the seed is reported to contain 342 calories, 12.0 g H2O, 10.0 g protein, 3.7 g fat, 72.7 g total carbohydrate, 2.2 g fiber, 1.5 g ash, 22 mg Ca, 242 mg P, 3.8 mg Fe, 8 mg Na, 44 mg K, 0 mg b-carotene equivalent, 0.33 mg thiamine, 0.18 mg riboflavin, 3.90 mg niacin, and 0 mg ascorbic acid (Wu Leung et al, 1972).
Seeds contain butyric-, formic-, myristic-, palmitic-, and stearic-acids, maltose, emulsine, and are rather rich in vitamin B (Perry, 1980). Cultivars with highly pigmented seeds are rich in condensed catechin tannin and other phenols (anthocyanins); these are usually the darker bird-, insect-, and/or fungus-resistant cvs. (Morton, 1981).
Protein contains no gluten and flour does not make good bread unless mixed with other cereals. Based on 1046 analyses, Miller (1958) reported that the DM ranges from 71.0每96.3%, averaging 89.0%. On a zero-moisture basis, CP ranges from 8.7每16.8% (mean of 1160 cases, 12.5%), EE from 1.4每6.1 (mean of 1159, 3.4%), CF from 0.4每13.4 (mean of 1085 cases, 2.7%), ash from 1.2每7.1% (mean of 1133, 2.2%), and 65.3每85.3% NFE (mean 79.2%); Ca from 0.01每0.53% (mean of 227 cases, 0.05%), P from 0.10每0.52% (mean of 235 cases, 0.35%), Cu 2每19 ppm (mean of 38 cases = 11), K from 0.28每0.50% (mean of 16 cases, 0.38%), Mg from 0.02每0.25% (mean of 23 cases = 0.19), Fe from 0.000每0.018% (mean of 44 cases = 0.005%), and Mn from 0每27 ppm (mean of 42 cases 16 ppm), S from 0.15每0.21% (mean of 6 = 0.18%), Na from 0.01每0.09% (mean of 9 = 0.05%), Cl from 0.07每0.14 (mean of 7 cases = 0.10%), Co from 0.04每0.73 ppm (mean of 22 cases = 0.3), Zn from 12每19 ppm (mean of 2 = 15), 1.3每8.8 ppm thiamin (mean of 50 cases = 4.6), 0.4每5.7 ppm riboflavin (mean of 168 cases = 1.5), 3.3每24.2 ppm pantothenic acid (mean of 165 = 125), 19.4~92.6 ppm niacin (mean of 171 cases = 48.4), 2.2每10.3 ppm pyridoxine (mean of 46 = 5.9), 528每953 ppm chorine (mean of 13 = 761), and 0.2每5.1 ppm carotene (mean of 66 cases = 1.3). Palmer and Bowden (1975) report more than 20 4-demethylsterols, 4-monomethylsterols, and triterpenes. Of 254 analyses of dry roughage, DM ranged from 62.8每94.3% (mean 85.5%). On a zero moisture basis, the dry roughage contained 3.0每17.9% CP (mean of 256 = 7.9), 1.4每3.8% EE (mean of 256 = 2.5), 17.3每38.1% CF (mean of 256 = 26.1), 4.6每18.6% ash (mean of 546 = 8.5%), and 41.0每67.8% NFE (mean 55.0), 0.2每0.8% K (mean of 14 = 1.41%), 0.21每0.4% Mg (mean of 15 = 0.3%), 0.005% Fe, 40每150 ppm Mn (mean of 8115), 0.51每0.74% Cl (mean of 3 = 0.63). One Egyptian variety yields a red dye stuff containing durastantalin (C16H12O5), quercemetrin, a flavanol, and a crystalline substance resembling pyrocatechol has been isolated from the grain (Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk, 1962).
Plants yield 27.8% pentosan, valued in furfural manufacture. Culms may contain 3 ppm ascorbic acid.
History:Grain Sorghum (Milo):
Farmers on the hot, dry plains from Texas to South Dakota grow and use grain sorghum like Corn Belt farmers use corn. Large acreages of grain sorghum are also grown in Africa and Asia in areas where the climate is too hot and dry for corn.
During the past 25 years, the grain sorghum acreage in the U.S. has ranged from 15 to 18 million acres per year. Grain sorghum acreage is somewhat greater than acreages for oats and barley, but considerably less than the land area planted to corn, wheat, and soybeans.
In cooler, more humid regions, corn is usually a better choice than grain sorghum, but renewed interest in grain sorghum occurs whenever hotter and drier than normal growing seasons are experienced.
Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare Pers.) is indigenous to Africa, and many of today's varieties originated on that continent. Sorghum was also grown in India before recorded history and in Assyria as early as 700 B.C. The crop reached China during the thirteenth century and the Western Hemisphere much later.
Sorghum was introduced to the United States from Africa in the early part of the seventeenth century. It was not grown extensively in this country until the 1850s, when the forage variety Black Amber (also called "Chinese sugarcane") was introduced by way of France. Since then many other varieties have been introduced from other countries and developed domestically.
Sorghum was grown primarily as a source of sugar for syrup until the settlement of the semiarid West created a demand for drought-resistant forage crops. By the 1950s, about 90% of the acreage of sweet sorghums in the United States was grown for forage.
Currently there are five major types of sorghum grown:
1) Grain sorghum with dwarf varieties that grow 2 to 5 ft tall for easier combining.
2) Forage sorghum which grows 6 to 12 ft tall, produces more dry matter tonnage than grain sorghum, is coarse stemmed and used for silage.
3) Sudangrass, a fine stemmed, short season sorghum grown to furnish pasture or green feed during mid-summer when perennial grasses are dormant.
4) Sorghum-sudangrass hybrids are a cross between the two forage types that have intermediate yield potential and can be used for pasture, hay or silage.
5) Sorghum-almum, also called Columbusgrass, sorghumgrass, sorgo negro or sudan negro.
Sorghum production is concentrated in areas where corn production is limited because the rainfall is insufficient or unfavorably distributed and the temperatures are too high. Thus most of the domestic sorghum acreage is in the southern Great Plains states, with Texas, Kansas and Nebraska the leading producers. However, some sweet sorghum has been grown for syrup or silage in Wisconsin since the state was settled.
Forage sorghum production has been limited in the Upper Midwest because the crop matures late and, except on droughty soils, does not generally produce as many total digestible nutrients per acre as well-adapted, high yielding corn hybrids. Recently, there has been renewed interest in the crop during seasons of high temperatures and drought.
Uses in Common of Grain Sorghum::
Worldwide, sorghum is a food grain for humans. In the United States, sorghum is used primarily as a feed grain for livestock. Feed value of grain sorghum is similar to corn. The grain has more protein and fat than corn, but is lower in vitamin A. When compared with corn on a per pound basis, grain sorghum feeding value ranges from 90% to nearly equal to corn. The grain is highly palatable to livestock, and intake seldom limits livestock productivity. However, some sorghum varieties and hybrids which were developed to deter birds are less palatable due to tannins and phenolic compounds in the seed. The grain should be cracked or rolled before feeding to cattle; this improves the portion digested.
Pasturing cattle or sheep on sorghum stubble, after the grain has been harvested, is a common practice. Both roughage and dropped heads are utilized. Stubble with secondary growth must be pastured carefully because of the danger of prussic acid (HCN) poisoning.
Grain sorghum may also be used as whole-plant silage, however another sorghum, sweet sorghum, was developed as a silage crop. Sweet sorghum produces much higher forage yields than grain sorghum, but feed quality will likely be lesser because there is no grain. Some growers mix grain sorghum with soybeans to produce a higher protein silage crop.
Forage sorghums are used primarily as silage for livestock. They are sometimes grown and harvested with soybeans to improve the protein content of the silage. Sudangrasses and sorghum-sudangrass hybrids are grazed by livestock or fed as green chop or hay.
Sorghum harvested at the soft dough stage of development and stored as silage contains 52 to 65% dry matter digestibility, 8 to 12% crude protein, 60 to 75% neutral detergent fiber, and 34 to 40% acid detergent fiber. The higher the grain content, the higher the digestibility. Ensiled grain has a digestibility of about 90%.
Forage sorghum usually produces as much silage per acre as corn. However, sorghum silage contains less grain and is higher in fiber than corn silage. Though the protein content of sorghum silage is similar to or slightly higher than that of corn, it is less digestible. Animal consumption of sorghum silage is also generally somewhat less than that of corn.
To obtain the optimum rate of gain for most livestock, sorghum silage must be supplemented with protein, minerals and vitamins. It is generally suggested that sorghum silage constitute not more than 50% of the forage in dairy cow rations but may be adequate alone for other categories of animals.
Sorghum plants, particularly young plants, contain an alkaloid which releases hydrocyanic, or prussic acid, when hydrolized. This can be toxic to livestock. Young plants, branches in the leaf axils of injured plants and new shoots from the crown at the soil surface contain more than twice as much acid as the mature leaves of normal plants. When the crop is cut and field-cured, or is ensiled, and the hydrocyanic acid degrades (2 to 3 weeks after ensiling), and the danger is greatly reduced. Sudangrass contains less than half as much hydrocyanic acid as most sorghums. A low-acid Sudangrass variety (Piper) was released by researchers in Wisconsin.
During periods of drought or other plant stress, sorghums tend to accumulate nitrates, which can poison livestock. If retarded crop growth is observed, analyze the forage for excessive nitrates before feeding it. In the case of high nitrate levels, the forage should be ensiled or combined with other feeds low in nitrate to reduce daily nitrate intake.
Uses and cultural aspects:Sorghum bicolor is an important crop providing food and fodder in the semi-arid tropics of the world. It is a staple food for more than 500 million people in more than 30 countries, although maize has to some extent replaced its use in southern africa.. It has been used in the production of alcohol. The whole plant is used for forage, hay or silage. The stem of some types is used for building; fencing, weaving, broom making and firewood. Industrially it can be used for vegetable oil, waxes and dyes.
Sorghum is very important in the world's human diet, with over 300 million people dependent on it (Bukantis, 1980). Grown for grain, forage, syrup and sugar, and industrial uses of stems and fibers. Grain sorghum is a staple cereal in hot dry tropics, the threshed grain ground into a wholesome flour. Stalks used as animal feed. Important summer fodder where temperatures are high and rainfall insufficient for corn. Most important for silage or green soiling, or for hay when grown irrigated in very dry areas. Pearled grain cooked like rice or ground into flour. Sorghum, with large juicy stems containing as much as 10% sucrose, used in manufacture of syrup; sugar can be manufactured from sorghum. Broomcorn used for making brooms. The seed is used as food, in brewing "kiffir beer", the kiffir corn malt and cornmeal is fermented to make Leting (a sour mash), the pith is eaten, and the sweet culm chewed (Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk, 1962). Arubans make porridge and muffins from sorghum meal.
Parched seed are used as coffee substitutes or adulterants.
Folk Medicine Use:
Reported to be antiabortive, cyanogenetic, demulcent, diuretic, emollient, intoxicant, and poison, sorghum is a folk remedy for cancer, epilepsy, flux, and stomachache (Duke and Wain, 1981). The root is used for malaria in southern Rhodesia; the seed has been used for breast disease and diarrhea; the stem for tubercular swellings. In India, the plant is considered anthelminthic and insecticidal, and in South Africa, in combination with Erigeron canadense L., it is used for eczema (Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk, 1962). In China, where the seeds are used to make alcohol, the seed husk is braised in brown sugar with a little water and applied to the chest of measles patients. The stomachic seeds are considered beneficial in fluxes (Perry, 1980). According to Morton (1981) Curacao natives drink the leaf decoction for measles, grinding the seeds with those of the calabash tree (Cresentia) for lung ailments. Venezuelans toast and pulverize the seeds for diarrhea. Brazilians decoct the seed for bronchitis, cough and other chest ailments, possibly using the ash for goiter. Arubans poultice hot oil packs of the seeds on the back of those suffering pulmonary congestion. According to Grieve's Herbal (1931), a decoction of ca 50 g seed to a liter of water is boiled down to ca 1/2 liter as a folk medication for kidney and urinary complaints.
Economics of Production and Markets:
The cost of grain sorghum production is about the same as for similar grain-yield production levels for corn. Therefore decisions to grow grain sorghum depend primarily on relative yield potential compared to corn, and the ability to obtain markets. Since market outlets for grain sorghum are not established in most areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin, local elevators will probably not buy it. On-farm utilization as feed is the most likely alternative available to most growers.
Growing Sorghum bicolour:
Sorghum is usually grown as a field crop. In Africa there are two basic types, white sorghum which is sweeter and used as a grain crop and red sorghum, which is less tasty to eat, but is not as badly attacked by birds and makes good beer. Sorghum is also planted for cattle fodder and other purposes.
Sorgum is planted from seed, usually in rows in spring. As it is a little more frost hardy than maize it can be planted up until midsummer if the rains are late. Plant seeds 15cm apart in rows 1m apart. Plant seed 3-5cm deep. Keep watered if no rain falls to germinate the seed. Keep free of weeds, especially while plants are still small.
Sorghum grows in a wide variety of soils and is drought resistant, but it will do better if the soil is enriched with compost or fertilisers prior to planting. Cultivars have also been selected to suit different soil and climate conditions.
After harvesting the stalks can be used for cattle food or fuel. It is best to practice crop rotation and only grow sorghum on the same land every 4 years.
Sorghum is prone to various pests, including birds and in some parts of Africa parasitic witchweed (Striga). Crop rotation and early weeding by hand helps with the latter. American bollworm, aphids and borer will need to be controlled with pesticides. Birds will need to be kept from ripening grain sorghum.
Grain Sorghum as Energy Crops:
Sorghums are high on the priority list of energy crops. The genus Sorghum includes grain sorghums noted for their ability to grow in dry climates and to manufacture starch efficiently. Sweet sorghums noted for their high yields of directly fermentable stalk sugars and their ability to grow anywhere that corn or soybeans grow, and sweet-stemmed grain sorghums which are crosses of grain sorghum with sweet sorghum and which combine the characteristics of the two types. Sorghum-based ethanol has a favorable energy input-output ratio. Because the stalk residues can be used for fuel and sorghums require less fertilizer than does corn. The directly fermentable sugars in the stalk present a challenge in that they are unstable compared with starch. Whether sweet sorghum and sweet-stemmed grain sorghum can become viable energy crops will depend on solving this serious seasonality problem. Processing facilities must be large enough to handle the entire crop in a matter of weeks, and the conversion to ethanol or other energy products must be spread out over a sufficient time period to keep unit capital investment low. Integrated systems are under development to solve the seasonality problem, e.g.,
(1) integration of sorghum crops with sugarcane agriculture in the south and of corn agriculture in the north,
(2) integrated processing and conversion of the stalk sugars and grain from sorghum or other crops,
(3) ethanol production from sorghum's simple carbohydrates and from its lignocellulose (Lipinsky and Kresovich, 1980).
The harvest index (HI) of cereals in general is ca 0.36, meaning that 64% of total above ground crop production is residue, at least 1/3 of which should be left in the field. 'Prior' barley has the HI ranging from 0.48 to 0.41 with increasing N fertilizer levels. Wheat usually runs about 0.30 to 0.35 HI. Rice often has a high HI, while grain sorghum generally has a low HI. The 'Green Revolution' cereals with short straw and high grain yields have relatively high HI. The estimated cost of ethanol and reethanol from cereal grains is $0.35 per liter and $0.16 per liter; the overall energy efficiency, i.e. the ratio of the energy value of the gross liquid fuel output to the total energy impute including feedstocks is 0.34 for ethanol and 0.40 for reethanol. For each ton of ethanol produced from cereal grains, there is another ton of dry distiller's residue, valued in the US as animal feed (Stewart et al, 1979). DM yields of 13每15 MT are reported in one Brazilian study, 14每17 in a US study, 24每28 MT in Iraq (just stalks) (Gill et al, 1977), 2.5每15 in Oklahoma (Denman, 1975), 12 MT in Cuba (Menendez and Martinez, 1980), 6每8 in India (Itnal et al., 1980), 14每33 in Louisiana (Ricaud et al., 1981). Sorghum, at 32 MT/ha stem and 3 MT grain, will give 3 to 4,000 liters alcohol per ha (Coombs and Vlitos, 1978). K.C. Freeman estimates 1250每2000 gallons per hectare (Ag. Research, July 1981). The grain itself could be sold for uses other than alcohol production because it provides only ca 5% of alcohol production (i.e. in sweet sorghum). Sugars in the stalks provide about 80% of the alcohol and those in stalk fibers about 15%. In Louisiana, Ricaud et al. (1981) reported 1070 to 1635 gallons per hectare, equalling ca 25每40 barrels ethanol per ha. According to Bukantis (1980), the energy output:input ratio for grain sorghum is ca 4:1 in non-irrigated fields in Kansas, ca 1:1 in irrigated fields, 4.5:1 in rainfed fields in Nebraska, 3每5:1 in irrigated fields, 3:1 in rainfed fields in Texas, 1.5:1 in irrigated fields of Texas, 37:1 in manual-labor fields in Sudan but only 1:1 in draft-animal production in Nigeria (I suspect they calculate feed for the oxen but no food for the man to make the big difference here). According to Pal and Malik (1981) Azospirillum brasilense contributed 5.8每19.6 kg N/ha to N uptake of cv CSH-5. Grain yields were 1,167 kg/ha without fertilizer, 1,780 kg/ha with inoculation with Azospirillum, 2,048 kg/ha with 10 tons FYM, and 2,435 kg/ha with FYM and inoculation. The straw factor is calculated at 1, the chaff factor at 0.25. Forage sorghum is a promising energy source. Forage sorghum in the 120-day growing season of California showed a mean growth rate of 23 g/m2/day for production of 27.6 MT/ha; in an 83-day growing season in Australia, the growth rate was 17 g/m2/day, for total production of 14.1 MT/ha (Boardman, 1980).
Toxicity:Sorghum contains hydrocyanic acid and the alkaloid hordenine. Sometimes plants accumulate toxic levels of nitrate (Morton, 1981). Varieties differ considerably in HCN poisonings. Danger is slight when grain is nearly mature. Young plants and suckers are dangerous, particularly when suffering from drought. HCN is destroyed when fodder is ensiled or cured as hay. Varieties vary in recovery with rotational grazing or frequent moving, as well as in quality and in HCN content. Kaffir-corn grain is edible, but the plant is toxic to stock, especially when wilted, due to HCN (52每3,000 ppm) and the cyanogenic glucoside durrin (C14H17O7N). In India the intoxication is known as jowar poisoning. Plants may contain 0.07% of the alkaloid hordenine.
Sweet sorghum in China:
This "camel among crops" could be the key to agricultural development in areas affected by aridity and saline soils...
Although sorghum (Sorgum bicolor) is best known as a grain crop, the sweet type is used mainly as livestock fodder: its high rate of photosynthesis produces leafy stalks up to 5 metres tall that make excellent silage. The stalks are also rich in sugar, which can be processed into jaggery or distilled to produce ethanol. Sweet sorghum has also been called "a camel among crops", owing to its wide adaptability, its marked resistance to drought and saline-alkaline soils, and tolerance to waterlogging.
All of these characteristics interest China. First, adverse soil conditions and water scarcity inhibit cultivation of sugar cane in 20 provinces along the valleys of Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, forcing China to import up to two million tonnes of sugar each year. "Farmland in those same provinces is highly suited for sweet sorghum," says Peter Griffee, an agronomist with FAO's Crop and Grasslands Service. "Its water requirement is one-third that of sugarcane, and its growing period is short enough to allow harvesting twice a year. While sugarcane is propagated from stem cuttings, sweet sorghum is sown with seed - just 4.5 kg is enough for a hectare of land, compared to 4,500-6,000 kg of sugarcane cuttings." Sweet sorghum's potential as an energy crop - it produces up to 7,000 litres of ethanol per hectare - makes it highly attractive for countries like China, which is expected to exhaust its economically recoverable petroleum reserves by 2016.
China's agricultural planners also see Sorghum bicolor as a key crop for sustainable agricultural development in farming areas that suffer from aridity and saline/alkaline soils. In the Huang Huai Hai region and Northwest China, where the total area of saline-alkaline and salinized land is estimated at more than 170,000 sq km, plants germinate with great difficulty, grow slowly and produce poor harvests, if not complete crop failures. This lack of agricultural development is the cause of poverty in many rural areas and a threat to China's long-term food security.
That is where FAO came in. Through its Technical Cooperation Programme, FAO is helping China's Ministry of Agriculture set up pilot farms in Shandong and Shaanxi provinces to demonstrate and develop sweet sorghum production and transfer it for use in livestock farming and processing industries in the arid and saline-alkaline regions. Partners in the project are several Chinese institutes that have been introducing and breeding new varieties of sweet sorghum for over 30 years. However, Peter Griffee says, there are still some gaps in agronomic and processing technology. To help fill them, FAO is providing the services of specialists in sweet sorghum agronomy and agro-industrial processing, as well as Brazilian experts in ethanol production.
As part of the project, sweet sorghum plots were established to test six high-yielding varieties, and harvested sorghum used in ensilage and animal feeding trials. Meanwhile, national experts have been sent to the USA to study sugar refining and alcohol production technologies, and will put their training into practice in a pilot alcohol production plant and a syrup and sugar refinery. The project is also exploring techniques for producing fungi and mushrooms with the residues remaining after processing.
"By December 2002," says Griffee, "we plan to have trained about 100 agricultural technicians in sweet sorghum production and utilization in two arid, saline-alkali regions, set up two five-10 hectare demonstration sites showing sweet sorghum production, processing and livestock farming, and transferred the most successful techniques to more than 200 farmers.
"This will lay the groundwork for a an agro-ecological system of sweet sorghum that will promote livestock farming and processing industries, provide many new jobs and protect the environment." Drawing on the project's outputs and findings, China's Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Science and Technology will consider launching a major programme in 2003-2005 to promote sweet sorghum cultivation on up to half a million hectares of farmland in the Western Regions.
Claims: Information this web site presented is meant for Nutritional Benefit and as an educational starting point only, for use in maintenance and promotion good health in cooperation with a common knowledge base reference...Furthermore,it based solely on the traditional and historic use or legend of a given herb from the garden of Adonis. Although every effort has been made to ensure its accurate, please note that some info may be outdated by more recent scientific developments......
Pharmakon Warning: The order of knowledge is not the transparent order of forms and ideas,as one might be tempted retrospectively to interpret it; it is the antidote....(Dissemination,Plato's Pharmacy,II.The Ingredients:Phantasms,Festivals,and Paints;138cf. Jacques Derrida.).
And as it happens,the technique of imitation,along with the production of the simulacrum,has always been in Plato's eyes manifestly magical,thaumaturgical:......and the same things appear bent and straight to those who view them in water and out,or concave and convex,owing to similar errors of vision about colors, and there is obviously every confusion of this sort in our souls.And so scene painting (skiagraphia) in its exploitation of this weakness of four nature falls nothing short of witchcraft (thaumatopoia), and so do jugglery and many other such contrivances.(Republic X,602c-d;cf.also 607c).
Screen Size 1024x768.]
[Scene Close]
MDidea Extracts Professional
Proper Special Extract Series:
Enjoy Daily Cartoons:
Serie No.:P036.Basic Data Sheet Download
.
seminal trace...Sorghum bicolor,Holcus bicolor L.10:1Extract....
Basic Botanical Info:
Growth habit & Regrowth type:
Scientific References:
Claims & Warning:
