Promising new cultivars on show at sorghum demonstration day

Magda du Toit recently attended a sorghum cultivar demonstration day and takes a look at the exciting new products making their way onto the market.

- Magda du Toit

Sorghum is an important cereal crop in Africa and a staple grain for millions of people. It is well adapted to arid and semi-arid environments and has the ability to thrive in relatively poor soils, low rainfall and high temperatures. Grain sorghum also has diverse uses across multiple industries.

Sorghum is used to make bread, porridges, soups and cakes for human consumption and as malt in the production of alcoholic beverages such as opaque beer, traditional sorghum beer (umqombothi) and non-alcoholic drinks (mageu). Additionally, sorghum is also used for livestock and poultry feed due to its high nutritional value and digestibility.

Speaking at a cultivar demonstration day organised by Grain SA and the Sorghum Trust on the farm Hamburg near Settlers in Limpopo, farm owner Willem Groothof expressed his optimism regarding the broader sorghum industry in South Africa. “I am positive that the sorghum industry will grow, especially if one looks at the new cultivars coming through. We must, however, also develop the market and promote sorghum as a healthy food.”

According to Groothof, who is also chairperson of the Sorghum Working Group in Grain SA, the creation of the Sorghum Cluster Initiative (SCI) is a light in the dark tunnel of sorghum production in South Africa. He pointed out that the SCI is busy with the following projects:

The evaluation of exotic germplasm as a precursor to sorghum pre-breeding;
Alternative quelea-control methods;
Policy aspects: asking for the exemption of VAT on sorghum;
An awareness campaign to support the market for sorghum;
Establishing an agro-processing facility; and
An analysis of the sorghum value chain.