Sorghum is a tall grass grown mainly as an annual for its starchy grain, with some perennial types. It is a major cereal crop in warm, dry regions and is grown for food, animal feed and ethanol.
Family
Poaceae (Grass family)
Grows as
Grass, Annual, Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Drought tolerant; water deeply during dry spells, especially at flowering and grain fill.
Soil
Well-drained soil; tolerates poor, sandy or clay soils.
Temperature
20–35 °C; sensitive to frost, protect below 10 °C.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic: Young plants and drought- or heat-stressed plants can contain hydrogen cyanide, hordenine and nitrates that are lethal to grazing animals.
Native range
Africa, Indian Subcontinent
Climate
seasonally dry tropical
About
Sorghum bicolor, commonly called sorghum () and also known as broomcorn, great millet, Indian millet, Guinea corn, jowar, or milo, is a species in the grass genus Sorghum. It is typically an annual, but some cultivars are perennial. It grows in clumps that may reach over 4 metres (13 ft) high. The grain is 2 to 4 millimetres (0.08 to 0.2 in) in diameter.
The species originated and was domesticated in Sudan. Native to Africa and the Indian subcontinent, it is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions for its grain. It is the world's fifth-most important cereal crop. The grain is used as food by humans, while the plant is used for animal feed and ethanol production.
Uses
The grain is edible and nutritious. It can be eaten raw when young and milky, but has to be boiled or ground into flour when mature.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sorghum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.