Commercial sorghum is the cultivation and commercial exploitation of species of grasses within the genus Sorghum (often S. bicolor, sometimes Sorghum arundinaceum). These plants are used for grain, fibre and fodder. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Commercial Sorghum species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and Asia.
Other names include durra, Egyptian millet, feterita, Guinea corn, jwari ज्वारी (Marathi), jowar, juwar, milo, shallu, Sudan grass, cholam (Tamil), jola/ಜೋಳ (Kannada), jonnalu జొన్నలు (Telugu), gaoliang (:zh:高粱), great millet, kafir corn, dura, dari, mtama, and solam.
Sorghum has been, for centuries, one of the most important staple foods for millions of poor rural people in the semiarid tropics of Asia and Africa. For some impoverished regions of the world, sorghum remains a principal source of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals. Sorghum grows in harsh environments where other crops do not grow well, just like other staple foods, such as cassava, that are common in impoverished regions of the world. It is usually grown without application of any fertilizers or other inputs by a multitude of small-holder farmers in many countries.
Grain sorghum is the third most important cereal crop grown in the United States and the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world. In 2010, Nigeria was the world's largest producer of grain sorghum, followed by the United States and India. In developed countries, and increasingly in developing countries such as India, the predominant use of sorghum is as fodder for poultry and cattle. Leading exporters in 2010 were the United States, Australia and Argentina; Mexico was the largest importer of sorghum.
An international effort is under way to improve sorghum farming. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has improved sorghum using traditional genetic improvement and integrated genetic and natural resources management practices. New varieties of sorghum from ICRISAT has now resulted in India producing . Some 194 improved cultivars are now planted worldwide. In India, increases in sorghum productivity resulting from improved cultivars have freed up of land, enabling farmers to diversify into high-income cash crops and boost their livelihoods. Sorghum is used primarily as poultry feed, and secondarily as cattle feed and in brewing applications.
Origin
The last wild relatives of commercial sorghum are currently confined to Africa south of the Sahara — although Zohary and Hopf add "perhaps" Yemen and Sudan — indicating its domestication took place there. However, note Zohary and Hopf, "the archaeological exploration of sub-Saharan Africa is yet in its early stages, and we still lack critical information for determining where and when sorghum could have been taken into cultivation." Although rich finds of S. bicolor have been recovered from Qasr Ibrim in Egyptian Nubia, the wild examples have been dated to circa 800–600 BC, and the domesticated ones no earlier than AD 100. The earliest archeological evidence comes from sites dated to the second millennium BC in India and Pakistan — where S. bicolor is not native. These incongruous finds have been interpreted, according again to Zohary and Hopf,
as indicating: (i) an even earlier domestication in Africa, and (ii) an early migration of domestic sorghum, from East Africa into the Indian subcontinent. This interpretation got further support because several other African grain crops, namely: pearl millet Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br., cow pea Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., and hyacinth bean Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet show similar patterns. Their wild progenitors are restricted to Africa.
Most cultivated varieties of sorghum can be traced back to Africa, where they grow on savanna lands. During the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, sorghum was planted extensively in parts of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The name "sorghum" comes from Italian "sorgo", in turn from Latin "Syricum (granum)" meaning "grain of Syria".
Despite the antiquity of sorghum, it arrived late to the Near East. It was unknown in the Mediterranean area into Roman times. Tenth century records indicate it was widely grown in Iraq, and became the principal food of Kirman in Persia. In addition to the eastern parts of the Muslim world, the crop was also grown in Egypt and later in Islamic Spain. From Islamic Spain, it was introduced to Christian Spain and then France (by the 12th century). In the Muslim world, sorghum was typically grown in areas where the soil was poor or the weather too hot and dry to grow other crops.