What is Sorghum?

The versatile crop is widely used for producing ethanol, sweet syrup & as the forage & silage for animals, all these benefits can be derived from the cultivation on a single piece of land. It has 25 varieties & 2 hybrids.

Features:
  • It has one of the highest water use efficiency among crops.
  • The plant is cheap to grow.
Benefits
  • Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) is a promising alternative of combustible fuels driven from a renewable resource - Sweet Sorghum.
    • Cooking & lighting together accounts for more than 57% of the total energy consumed in India. Wood & kerosene are the major cooking & lighting fuels in rural area.
    • Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) is a promising alternative driven from a renewable resource sweet sorghum.
    • It can be used in IC engines & can substitute for kerosene in lanterns &stoves.
    • Juice of sweet sorghum stalks contains on an average about 10 –11%w/w total fermentable sugar to produce ethanol.
    • It gives a fermentation efficiency of 90%in48-7 hr.
    • The final ethanol content in the fermented juice is 6% v/v

    Note - There are 400 million tons / yr of surplus agricultural residues, which theoretically can produce 53,000 MS.
  • Sorghum could become an attractive alternative feedstock to sugarcane for producing jaggery or syrup, which has been also found more attractively accepted in the market by consumers, with its major attraction being its very high nutritive value. Especially proteins, calcium, potassium, nicotinic acid & vitamins B & C. It has been used for nearly 50 yrs in U.S to produce concentrate syrup
Advantages of the Sorghum Syrup:
  • It can be used as a tonic for nervous system.
  • It helps to control Asthma.
  • It works as an antacid for acidity.
  • It helps in controlling obesity.
  • It can be replaced for the use of sugar.
  • It would also provide for animal feed & fertilizers.
    • The importance of fodder from the waste of Sweet Sorghum is growing in the rural areas as a very nutritious & wholesome diet, in the field of animal husbandry.

  • Ideal alternative for production of paper.
    • Indian paper industry faces a chronic problem of forest base raw material – pulpwood, bamboo, sugarcane bagasses, etc therefore Sweet Sorghum is a cost effective replace.

  • Flour For Bread.
    • It is the staple food in states like Maharashtra, and is very nutritious diet for the rural people.
REMARKABLE INNOVATION BY JAMANALAL BAJAJ AWARDEE 2001:

SHRI ANIL KUMAR RAJVANSHI
DIRECTOR NIMBKAR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE (NARI)
P.O. BOX 44, TAMBAL, PHALTAN-415 523
MAHARASHTRA
INDIA

Website: www.nariphaltan.virtualave.net