Sorghum bicolor logogriph,broomcorn, durra, forage sorghum, grain sorghum, great millet, Kaffir-corn, milo, shallu sorghum, sweet sorghum,Milo,sorgo, gros mil, sorgho,daza, sorgo forrajero?

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Economics of Production and Markets.

Sorghum bicolor Extract Sorghum bicolor Moench photo picture image 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).
 Sorghum bicolor Extract Sorghum bicolor Moench photo picture image

 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 13~15 MT are reported in one Brazilian study, 14~17 in a US study, 24~28 MT in Iraq (just stalks) (Gill et al, 1977), 2.5~15 in Oklahoma (Denman, 1975), 12 MT in Cuba (Menendez and Martinez, 1980), 6~8 in India (Itnal et al., 1980), 14~33 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 1250~2000 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 25~40 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, 3~5:1 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 5.8~19.6 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 (52~3,000 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.

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citations1.Sorghum bicolor logogriph,broomcorn, durra, forage sorghum, grain sorghum, great millet, Kaffir-corn, milo, shallu sorghum, sweet sorghum,Milo,sorgo, gros mil, sorgho,daza, sorgo forrajero?

last edit date:26th,June.2009.