International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
Abstract
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the fifth most important
cereal crop globally and is the dietary staple of more than
500 million people in over 90 countries, primarily in the
developing world (Reddy et al. 2010). With its C4
photosynthetic pathway, it is adapted to a wide range of
environmental conditions. It has multiple uses as a food,
feed, fodder, fuel and fiber crop (Paterson et al. 2009).
More than 35 percent of world sorghum production is
going for food consumption (Awika and Rooney 2004)
by the poorest of the poor in the largely low-income
deficit countries. Worldwide, it is grown on about 40
million ha, of which about 9 million ha are cultivated in
Asia; of this the largest area is in India (7.53 milion ha)
which has a production of 7.25 million t (FAOSTAT
2011)
