Sweet sorghum is a hardy, nutritious, biofuel crop that offers solutions in drought-hit southern Africa

Sub: Geography

Sec: Eco geography

Tag: Sweet sorghum

The southern African region is battling with drought at present.

Drought Cause: Result of El Nino, affecting global weather patterns.
Impact: Severe drought in southern Africa, hitting agricultural productivity hard.
Affected Countries: Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have declared a state of disaster and are seeking food aid.
Economic Implications: Over 70% of rural populations in the region rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Agricultural Sector’s Response to Climate Change

Need for Adaptation: Importance of preparing for and mitigating climate impacts in agriculture.
Biofuel Crops: Cultivation of biofuel crops as a measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Biofuel Crops
- Conventional Crops: Sugarcane, maize, grain sorghum, sugar beet, rapeseed, and sunflower.
- Drawbacks: Susceptibility to extreme weather, high investment costs, competition with food production.

Sweet Sorghum:

Origin: Most likely Ethiopia region.
Sweet sorghum or sorgo is any of the many varieties of sorghum grass whose stalks have a high sugar content.
It thrives better under drier and warmer conditions than many other crops and is grown primarily for forage, silage, and syrup production.
Sweet sorghum syrup is known as sorghum molasses in some regions of the United States.

Potential of Sweet Sorghum:

Multipurpose Use: Provides grains, animal feed, and sugary juice.
Nutritional Value: Comparable to maize, rich in energy, proteins, carbohydrates, fibre, and essential minerals such as potassium, calcium, sodium and iron.
- It has good antioxidant properties.
Bioethanol Production: High yield of 8,102 litres per hectare, significantly more than maize.
Resilience: Drought resistance, can go dormant and resume growth post-drought, uses stalk juice during water scarcity.
Other Uses:
- Animal Feed: High nutritional residue post-harvest.
- Ethanol Production: Contains sucrose, glucose, and fructose for bioethanol.

Recommendations for Investment and Awareness

Underutilized Crop: Despite its potential, sweet sorghum is not widely cultivated or researched in Africa.
Government Role: Use agriculture extension services to promote awareness and benefits of sweet sorghum.
Research and Development: Invest in developing recipes and industrial products to enhance the feasibility of sweet sorghum farming.
Global Examples: Successfully cultivated in the US, Brazil, and China.

Source: DTE