Sorghum

Article By:

Miller, Frederick R. Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

Baver, Leonard D. Formerly, Agronomy Department, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Frederiksen, Richard A. Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

Last reviewed:January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.637100

Any of a variety of widely cultivated grasses, especially Sorghum bicolor, grown for grain and herbage. Sorghum (Fig. 1) includes many widely grown grasses having a variety of names. Sorghum is known as guinea corn in West Africa, kafir corn in South Africa, mtama in East Africa, and durra in the Sudan. In India, sorghums are called juar, jowar, or cholam; in China, kaoliang; and in the United States, milo. Cultivated sorghums in the United States are classified as a single species, Sorghum bicolor, although there are many varieties and hybrids. The two major types of sorghum are the grain, or nonsaccharine, type, cultivated for grain production and to a lesser extent for forage; and the sweet, or saccharine, type, used for forage production and for making syrup and sugar. See also: Cyperales; Grass crops; Poales; Sudangrass; Sugar crops

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