Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)- A new generation water use efficient bioenergy crop

Biofuels have been widely recognized as a best alternative to insulate emerging economies against fastly depleting fossil fuels coupled with highly volatile prices. Sweet sorghum is a multipurpose bioethanol feedstock with greater adaptability with triple benefits (food, fodder and fuel) and cannot be part of much debated food vs. fuel issue. This article gives a brief overview of research results on water use and water use efficiency of sweet sorghum, a new generation bioenergy crop. This feedstock performs superior at many locations in terms of resource use efficiency vis a vis sugarcane, corn and tropical sugar beet and scores fairly well for adaptation to dry land conditions due to its inherent characteristic

CSH 22SS – an improved sweet sorghum hybrid

Parentage: ICSA 38 x SSV 84 Medium duration hybrid: 120 days;Days to 50% fl owering: 80 to 88 days;Plant height: 280–350 cm;High stalk yield (44–52 t ha-1): 29% higher than SSV 84 and CSV 19SS. ; High ethanol yield (1250–1320 L ha-1):43% higher than SSV 84 and 34% 8% higher than CSV 19SS. High CCS (3.2–4.0 t ha-1): 33% higher than SSV 84

Sweet Sorghum: Genetics, Breeding and Commercialization

This chapter describes sweet sorghum characteristics and utilization as food and fuel; climate requirements and distribution; reproductive biology including floral biology, pollination, fertilization and seed development; genomics; genetic transformation; breeding objectives and methods; and commercialization. Full exploration of the available genetic resources through plant breeding with the aid of molecular tools could dramatically increase biomass yield of sorghum and thus meet the demand of feedstocks for biofuel production without a significant impact on our food supply and natural environment

Sweet sorghum cultivar options

Sweet sorghum can be grown under dryland conditions with annual rainfall ranging from 550-750 mm. The best areas to produce this crop are Central and South India, subtropical areas of Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. It can be grown on well-drained soils such as silt loam or sandy silt clay loam soils with a depth of 0.75 m. Atmospheric temperatures suitable for sweet sorghum growth vary between 15 and 37°C. Sorghum being a C4 species is adapted to a wide range of environments with latitudes ranging from 40oN to 40oS of the equator. Sorghum in general has relatively a deep root system (>1.5 m), and has the unique feature of being ‘dormant’ under unfavorable conditions and resume growth once environmental conditions are favorabl

Identification of Ideal Locations and Stable High Biomass Sorghum Genotypes in semiarid Tropics

The dearth of proper delineation for energy sorghum cultivation has led to a prerequisite for evaluation and identification of test environments for the newly developed lines. This becomes of vital importance as the biomass yield is highly influenced by genotype and environmental (G × E) interactions. Several agronomic traits were considered to assess the biomass yield and the combined analysis of variance for G (genotype), L (location) and interaction effect of G × L. The variations in the yield caused by the interaction of G × L are very essential to acquire knowledge on the specific adaptation of a genotype. Thus, the multi-location trials conducted across locations and years have helped to identify the stable environments with specific adaptation for biomass sorghum. The presence of close association between the test locations suggested that the same information about the genotypes could be obtained from fewer test environments, and hence the potential to reduce evaluation costs. The two genotypes—IS 13762 and ICSV 25333—have shown stable performance for biomass traits across all the locations, in comparison with CSH 22SS (check). The top ten entries with stable and better performance for fresh biomass yield, dry biomass yield, grain yield and theoretical ethanol yield were ICSV 25333, IS 13762, CSH 22SS, IS 25302, IS 25301, IS 27246, IS 16529, DHBM2, ICSSH 28 and IS 17349

Sweet Sorghum Stalk Supply Chain Management: Decentralized Crushing Cum-Syrup Making Unit Information Bulletin no. 90

In the climate of environmental concerns associated with fossil fuel use and the increased demand for energy in different counties, biofuel research and development has come to center stage. Sweet sorghum is a SMART crop with triple product benefits - food, feed and fuel. It is a good candidate for commercial ethanol production with potential opportunities for benefiting the poor dryland farmers through the emerging biofuel markets. Commercial ethanol production from sweet sorghum requires feedstock supplies for the long period of a year. ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics) with Rusni distillery Pvt. Ltd. and other partners are working on supply chain management and addressing other issues in the sweet sorghum ethanol value chain. Principally, the sweet sorghum supply chain involves centralized and decentralized models. Under the centralized model, farmers supply the sweet sorghum stalks directly to the distillery, whereas in the decentralized model, farmers supply stalks to the Decentralized Crushing-Syrup Making Unit (DCU) located within the village where the crop is grown. The stalks are crushed at the DCU and the sweet juice is boiled to produce concentrated syrup that can be stored for more than 2 years at room temperature, and which is used for ethanol production, particularly in the off-season. This serves to augment the feedstock supply to the distillery. Use of the DCU for crushing and syrup production at the village level is a new idea and there is as yet no publication available on the requirements for establishment of a DCU and its management. In this bulletin, an attempt is made to briefly describe the experiences of ICRISAT and partners in the establishment and maintenance of a DCU, covering all the aspects from selection of site for its establishment, logistical requirements, plant and machinery, operation and management, economics of crushing sweet sorghum and its role in sweet sorghum supply chain managemen

Sweet Sorghum Planting Effects on Stalk Yield and Sugar Quality in Semi-Arid Tropical Environment

Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] has potential as a bioenergy crop for producing food, fiber, and fermentable sugar. Unlike dryland grain sorghum, little information is available on the influence of staggered planting and genotypes, especially in semiarid tropical environments. The objectives of the present study were (i) to quantify the effects of planting time and genotype on stalk and biomass yields, juice sugar quality, and (ii) to identify the most productive genotypes and planting windows for sustainable feedstock supply. Four commercial sweet sorghum genotypes (SSV84, SSV74, CSV19SS, and CSH22SS) were planted on five planting dates (1 June, 16 June, 1 July, 16 July, and 1 August) during the rainy (June–October) season of 2008 and 2009 in Hyderabad (17°27´ N, 78°28´ E), India. Planting in early and mid-June produced significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher fresh stalk yield and grain yield than later planting dates. Commercial hybrid CSH22SS produced significantly more stalk, grain, sugar, and ethanol yield over genotypes SSV84 or SSV74. Based on the stalk yield, juice sugar quality, sugar, and ethanol yields, the optimum planting dates for sweet sorghum in semiarid tropical climate is early June to early July. Planting sweet sorghum during this time allows more feedstock to be harvested and hence extends the period for sugar mill operation by about 1 mo, that is, from the first to the last week of October