Sorghum Cultivation Areas

Sorghum is a tropical grain grown primarily in semi-arid parts of the world. In Africa, a major growing area runs across West Africa south of the Sahara, through Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia. It is grown in upper Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and Zambia. It is an important crop in India, Pakistan, Thailand, central and northern China, Australia, the drier areas of Argentina and Brazil, Venezuela, USA, France, and Italy. The crop is spread over the drier areas of the world; it grows better when the weather is dry and cool. Sorghum is a staple food for about 300 million people worldwide.

Production of Sorghum Worldwide

Globally, sorghum is cultivated in an area of 42−43 million hectares leading to a production of 59−60 million tonnes of crop. In the last 18 years (1994−2011), average production of sorghum in the world is pegged at 59−60 million tonnes. The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in global production of sorghum has slightly declined by −0.5 per cent. The global production trend of sorghum is given in Fig. 2.1.

Country wise production of sorghum

United States is the largest producer of sorghum in the world. Annual average production of sorghum in the country during the year 1994−2011 was about 11.9−12.0 million tonnes. The compounded growth during these periods was −4.3 per cent annually. India is the second largest producer of sorghum in the world; on an average, the country produces around 7.5−7.8 million tonnes of sorghum annually. Nigeria ranks third and Mexico fourth in terms of the production of sorghum globally as the average production of sorghum during the year 1994−2011 in these countries was 7.68 and 5.94 million tonnes, respectively. Table 2.1 gives the production of sorghum in various countries globally.