Did you know that Sorghum, termed as God's Crop", is the fourth major cereal in terms of production and fifth in acreage following wheat, rice, maize and barley, in 95 countries of the world including India?
Did you know that Sorghum (Jowar or Jola) has many health benefits as it is gluten free, high in protein, good source of iron and fibre, cholesterol free, nutritious and rich in antioxidants, enhances digestive health, energy and improves blood pressure and circulation?
Sorghum or Jowar or Jola ಜೋಲಾ, hailed as the "God's Crop", belongs to genus of about 25 species of flowering plants, the grass family Poaceae (grass) and subfamily Panicoideae, tribe Andropogonaeae (the same as big bluestem and sugarcane), and is charachterised by dorsally compressed spikeletts. It is a unique drought resistant food crop produced for domestic and export markets with multiple uses as food, feed, fodder. and fibre.
Sorghum's origin, some scholars claim, was in India but it could have been brought to the west coast of India by the Arabs who had established trade between Africa and India across the Indian Ocean who porovisioned their ships with sorghum. One authority dates the cultivation to first century AD. Another botonist believes that humans independenlty domesticated sorghum in India and Africa,. From Africa, sorghum migrated to western Asia. A carving of a sorghum plant dates to its culitvation in Assyria no later than 700 BC. From India, sorghum spread to Iran. About 600 AD, China adopted sorghum from Arabia or India. It is also claimed that it to originated from North East of Africa or Abyssinia and brought to USA and European countries by slaves. It is now the fourth major cereal in terms of production and fifth in acreage following wheat, rice, maize and barley, in 95 countries of the world, in all continents including Indian subcontinent. In India, it is mainly grown on central and peninsular regions such as, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Mandya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.
The name sorghum derives from Italization of term "sorgo" in turn evolved from Latin : "Syricum" (granum) meaning grain of Syria,.
Sorghum's vernacular names in India are: Juar or Jowar (Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi), Jola (Kannada ಜೋಲಾ ), Cholam (Malayalam, Tamil), Jwari Marathi), Janha (Oriya), Jonnalu (Telugu), Other names are Milo and Chari.
Sorghum is a dual purpose parent crop, most hardy and versatile, a staple food crop, grown as a subsistance dry land crop by resource limited farmers from traditional management conditions, in regions characterised by inadequate and unpredictable rainfall, recurent drought, and fragile environments. It grows under contrasting climatic conditions.
Sorghums' outstanding attribute is its draught tolerance. Its roots system twice as extensive as that of corn, sorghum extracts 90% of the water and nutrients available from the soil. Some sorghum roots penetrate to a depth of six feet, deriving water at depth. Most sorghum roots are shorter than 10 inches and derives water from the upper layer of the soil.
All 25 species of sorghums contain phenolic acids, and most contain flavonoids. Sorghum grains are one of the highest food sources of the flavonoid proanthocyanidin. Total phenol content (in both phenolic acids and flavonoids) is correlated with antioxidant activity. Antioxidant activity is high in sorghums having dark pericarp and pigmented testa.
Sorghum has in recent times become the ‘new quinoa’ due to its gluten free property and the innumerable health benefits that it provides such as: Improving digestion, fighting against free radicals, boosting immunity, improving heart health, a rich source of protein, and controls blood sugar level.
Sorghum provides raw material for many industrial uses like potable alcohol, transport ehanol malt, beer, liquids, gruels, starch, adhesives, core binders for metal casting, ore refining, and grits as packaging matertial.
Popped sorghum is popular as a snack in India. The popped sorghum is similar to popcorn, but the puffs are smaller. Like popcorn, popping sorghum is done by microwave, in a pot, or other similar ways. It may also be used as a flavoring for clarified butter (ghee). But its popular use as the staple diet in North karnataka and Maharastra is as 'Jolada rotti', an unleavened Indian bread.
Sorghum's worldwide production in 2020- 2021 was the largest in the United States of about 11.4 million metric tons while India produced about 4.4 million metric tons, with Karnataka accounting for 22% of its production. Area under Sorghum production across the world has, however, remained stagnant around 40 million hectares.
- Narasipur Char
