Sorghum biology

To designate Sorghum as a "lost" crop, on the face of it, seems like a gross mistake. After all, the plant is Africa's contribution to the world's top crops. It belongs to the elite handful of plants that collectively provide more than 85 percent of all human energy. Globally, it produces approximately 70 million metric tons of grain from about 50 million hectares of land. Today, it is the dietary staple of more than 500 million people in more than 30 countries, let alone in Africa it is an important crop for 300 million people. Only rice, wheat, maize, and potatoes surpass it in feeding the human race. For all that, however, Sorghum now receives merely a fraction of the attention it warrants and produces merely a fraction of what it could. Not only is it inadequately supported for the world's fifth major crop, it is under-supported considering its vast and untapped potential. Viewed in this light it is indeed "lost."But this situation may not continue much longer. A growing number of researchers in governmental institutions and companies already see that a new and enlightened Sorghum era is just around the corner. Accorded research support at a level comparable to that devoted worldwide to wheat or rice or maize, Sorghum could contribute a great deal more to food supplies than it does at present. And it would contribute most to those regions and peoples in greatest need. Indeed, if the twentieth century has been the century of wheat, rice, and maize, the twenty-first century could become the one of Sorghum. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in close collaboration with Africa Harvest will make it possible to foster biofortification of this wonderful crop, a crop, which has already proven its big potential for subsistence and commercial farming. The book presented should help to synthesize the literature and achievements in the research on the biology of Sorghum in the wake of the 21st century. May it be of help for future research and development of Sorghum.

Taxonomy and Genomics of Sorghum: Wider taxonomic and genomic range of the genus Sorghum.- The genus Sorghum Moench.- Sorghum halepense .- Sorghum propinquum.- Sorghum bicolor.- Numerical taxonomy within the genus Sorghum.- Molecular taxonomic and genomic analysis.-Biogeography of Sorghum: Distribution of the genus Sorghum.- Centers of biodiversity and centers of crop origin.- Centers of origin of the genus Sorghum.- Reproduction of Sorghum: Inflorescence general.- Panicle structure.- The pedicelled spikelets.- Anthesis.- Pollination.- Mating systems in Sorghum in general.- Cleistogamy.- Apomixis.- Grain development.- Sorghum breeding in relation to its biology: General Aspects.- Modern breeding situation in Sorghum.- Development of modern Sorghum breeding.- Present and future breeding efforts.- Evolution and gene flow of Sorghum: Evolutionary dynamics and history of Sorghum domestication.- Gene flow and hybridization of Sorghum cultivars to wild relatives.- Gene flow from Sorghum cultivars to wild relatives in Africa.- Gene flow in Sorghum from crop to crop.- Consequences of gene flow and regulation.- Mitigation of gene flow.