Sorghum bicolor, sorghum

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Taxonomic lineage

cellular organisms - Eukaryota - Viridiplantae - Streptophyta - Streptophytina - Embryophyta - Tracheophyta - Euphyllophyta - Spermatophyta - Magnoliophyta - Liliopsida - commelinids - Poales - Poaceae - PACCAD clade - Panicoideae - Andropogoneae - Sorghum - Sorghum bicolor

Brief facts

• Sorghum is an annual grass with broad coarse leaves. Seeds are white, yellow, red, or brown. Panicle contains up to 6,000 spikelets. It is well adapted to growth in hot, arid or semi-arid areas.
• Grain sorghum is the third most important cereal crop grown in the United States and the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world. It is grown for grain, forage, syrup and sugar, and industrial uses of stems and fibers.
• Main center of distribution of cultivated sorghums is Africa. Sorhum have been cultivated in Ethiopia for more than 5,000 years. Now sorghums are widely distributed throughout tropics, subtropics, and warm temperate areas of the world.

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Developmental stages (life cycle)

Most sorghum plants take 90-120 days to mature.

• Seed stage MeSH
  • Dormant seed Sorghum seed shows dormancy for the first month after harvest.
  • Germination MeSH This stage includes imbibition, emergence of radicle and emergence of coleoptile.
• Vegetative
  • Seedling MeSH
    • Emergence Stage 0. Emergence occurs when the coleoptile is visible at the soil surface, and generally occurs 3 to 10 days after planting. During emergence, growth is dependent upon soil temperature and moisture, planting depth, and seed vigor.
    • Three leaf stage Stage 1. The three leaf stage occurs when the collars of three leaves can be seen without dissecting the plant. This stage will occur approximately 10 days after emergence, with great dependence upon temperature.
    • Five leaf stage Stage 2. The five leaf stage occurs when the collars of five leaves can be seen without dissecting the plant and occurs about 3 weeks after emergence. The root system develops rapidly at this stage.
  • Tillering Stage 3. Also refered to as growing point differentiation. Growth of shoots (tillers) sprout from the base of a grass (maximum 4-7 tillers). At this stage the growing point of the sorghum plant changes from vegetative to reproductive; the total number of leaves have been determined, with potential head size following shortly thereafter; this stage occurs approximately 30 days after emergence and is about one-third of the time from planting to physiological maturity.
  • Stem elongation Stage 4. Also called jointing. Quick growth of stem. This stage occurs about 47-55 days after seedling emergence and lasts for 30 to 90 days.
• Reproductive
  • Booting Stage 5. The boot stage is reached in 50-60 days after emergence. At this stage, all leaves have fully expanded, which provides maximum leaf area and light interception. The head is full size and is encompassed by the flag-leaf sheath. Potential head size has been determined by this stage.
  • Heading Emergence of inflorescence.
  • Flowering Flowering starts in 60-70 days after emergence.
    • Half bloom Stage 6. This stage is defined as when half of the plants in a field are in some stage of bloom. Flowering progresses from the tip of the head downward over a period of 4 to 9 days. At half-bloom nearly half of the total dry weight of the plant has been attained. This stage usually represents two-thirds of the time between planting and physiological maturity.
• Ripening
  • Soft dough Stage 7. At this stage the grain has a dough-like consistency and grain fill is occurring rapidly; approximately half of the seed dry weight is accumulated between stage 6 and stage 7. Lower leaves continue to senesce with 8 to 12 leaves remaining at this stage
  • Hard dough Stage 8. By this stage approximately three-fourths of the grain dry weight has been attained; nutrient uptake at this point is essentially complete.
• Ripe Stage 9. Plant reached physiological maturity and is harvest ready; maximum total dry weight of the plant has occurred; this stage is determined by the dark spot on kernel side that is opposite to the embryo.

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References

• Mekbib F.
  Folksong based appraisal of bioecocultural heritage of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench): a new approach in ethnobiology. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2009 Jul 3;5:19.

  

  Uses of Sorghum injera (Ethiopian pancake)
  2a. Sorghum injera (Ethiopian pancake) used for human food.
  2b. A young boy feeding an ox with sorghum leaves and thin stalks.
  2c. Sorghum for fuelwood 2d. Sorghum for thatching of huts.
  2e. Land preparation using Guzza oxen and labour sharing scheme.
  2f. Sorghum-Khat alley cropping.
  2g. Sorghum-groundnut mixed cropping.
  2h. Sorghum-sweet potato intercropping.
  2i. Sorghum with undersown wheat.
  2j. Sorghum-maize mixed cropping.
  2k. Striga hermonthica in Babile. Note the purplish flower colour.
  2l. Striga asiatica in Fedis. Note the reddish flower colour.
  2m. Farmer thinning sorghum field, Meta wereda, Ethiopia.
  2n. Application of organic manure on Vertisols Alemaya Wereda, Fendisha farmers association.
  2o. Regosol: the dominant soils in the intermediate and lowlands.
  2p. Fluvisol deposited soil, commonly found in the valley bottoms.
  2q. Moisture stress. No seed setting due to terminal moisture stress at Miesso, 800 m asl.

  The multifaceted benefits of sorghum for a present-day farmer are indicated in the following folk song:
  Dherate waaqa bahe alaati marfachisse
  Kan du'ee Kute hinbanu bishingan Gagaba bayfachissee.
  Sorghum is everything for every one of us;
  Except for the dead ones'

• Nedelcheva AM, Dogan Y, Guarrera PM.
  Plants traditionally used to make brooms in several European countries. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2007 May 2;3:20.

  

  Industrial manufactured brooms from Sorghum bicolor in the street market in Sofia (Bulgaria).

• Separating Wheat from Chaff in Plant Genomes. PLoS Biol. 2005 January; 3(1): e39.

  

  A field of hybrid sorghum.

Websites

• Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench
• Sorghum Growth Stage Development