Sweet sorghum

Sweet Sorghum

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Sweet sorghum

Sweet sorghum is any of the many varieties of sorghum

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of Poaceae, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture....
which have a high sugar content. Sweet sorghum will thrive under drier and warmer conditions than many other crops and is grown primarily for forage

Fodder

In agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs....
, silage

Silage

File:Cattle eating corn silage.jpgSilage is fermentation , high-moisture fodder that can be fed to ruminants or used as a biofuel feedstock for anaerobic digesters....
, and sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many other sources....
production.

Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
n slaves

Atlantic slave trade

The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the transatlantic slave trade, was the trade of primarily African people supplied to the colonies of the New World that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean....
introduced the crop, which then was known as "Guinea

Guinea (region)

Guinea is a traditional name for the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It stretches north through the forested, tropical, regions and ends at the Sahel....
corn," into the United States

United States

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Sweet sorghum is any of the many varieties of sorghum

Sorghum

Fodder

In agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs....
, silage

Silage

File:Cattle eating corn silage.jpgSilage is fermentation , high-moisture fodder that can be fed to ruminants or used as a biofuel feedstock for anaerobic digesters....
, and sugar

Sugar

Africa

Atlantic slave trade

Guinea (region)

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
in the early part of the 17th century. Sweet sorghum has been widely cultivated in the U.S. since the 1850s for use in sweeteners, primarily in the form of sorghum syrup. By the early 1900s, the U.S. produced 20 million gallons of sweet sorghum syrup annually. Making syrup from sorghum (as from sugar cane) is heavily labor intensive. Following World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, with the declining availability of farm labor, sorghum syrup production fell drastically. Currently, less than 1 million gallons are produced annually in the U.S. Most sorghum grown for syrup production is grown in Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
, Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
, Iowa

Iowa

The State of Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It is bordered by Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Missouri to the south....
, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a U.S. state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is normally included in the group of Southern United States , but it is uncommonly included, geographically and culturally, in the Midwestern United States....
, Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
, and Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States United States. In 1796, it became the sixteenth state to join the United States....
. Sorghum syrup and hot biscuits are a traditional breakfast in southern Appalachia.

In the U.S. since the 1950s, sorghum has been raised primarily for forage and silage, with sorghum cultivation for cattle feed concentrated in the Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada....
(Texas

Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, Kansas

Kansas

The State of Kansas is a Midwestern U.S. state in the Central United States of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the United States "Heartland"....
, and Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a U.S. state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Western United States.Nebraska probably gets its name from the archaic Chiwere language words ?? Br?sge or the Omaha-Ponca language N? Bth?ska meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state....
are the leading producers), where insufficient rainfall and high temperature make corn production unprofitable.

Sweet sorghum syrup is called "molasses

Molasses

Molasses is a thick by-product from the processing of the sugar beet or sugar cane into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese language word mela?o, which comes from "meli", the Greek word for "honey"....
" or "sorghum molasses" in some regions of the U.S., but the term molasses more properly refers to a different sweet syrup, made as a byproduct of the sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane is a genus of 6 to 37 species of tall perennial plant Poaceae , native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World. They have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar and measure 2 to 6 meters tall....
or sugar beet

Sugar beet

Sugar beet , a member of the Chenopodiaceae family, is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production....
production.

In India Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute has been selling sweet sorghum syrup since 1990s. Feedback from the users compares the syrup with honey both in color and taste.

Grain sorghum has been utilized by the ethanol industry for quite some time because it yields approximately the same amount of ethanol per bushel as corn. As new generation ethanol processes are studied and improved, sorghum's role may continue to expand.

In India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, and other places, stalks are used for producing bio-fuel by squeezing the juice and then fermenting into ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatility , flammable, colorless liquid....
. Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University, often called A&M or TAMU, is a coeducational public university research university located in College Station, Texas, Texas....
in the United States is currently running trials to produce the best varieties for ethanol production from in the USA.

External links

Sorghum festivals in the US

, West Liberty, Kentucky
, Blairsville, Georgia
Blairsville, Georgia

Blairsville is a city in Union County, Georgia, Georgia , United States. The population was 659 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Union County, Georgia....
, Crawford County, Indiana
Crawford County, Indiana

Crawford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2000, the population was 10,743. The county seat is English, Indiana....
, Hawesville, Kentucky
Hawesville, Kentucky

Hawesville is a city in Hancock County, Kentucky, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 971 at the 2000 United States Census....
, Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City, Tennessee

Johnson City is a city in Carter County, Tennessee, Sullivan County, Tennessee, and Washington County, Tennessee Counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with most of the city being in Washington County....
, Loachapoka, Alabama
Loachapoka, Alabama

Loachapoka is a town in Lee County, Alabama, Alabama, United States. It is located seven miles west of Auburn, Alabama in west-central Lee County....
, McDaniels Crossroads, North Carolina
, Oneida, Tennessee
Oneida, Tennessee

Oneida is a town in Scott County, Tennessee, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,615 at the 2000 United States Census.Oneida is known for its convenient proximity to the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area....
, Wewoka, Oklahoma
Wewoka, Oklahoma

Wewoka is a city in Seminole County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,562 at the 2000 United States Census. It is the county seat of Seminole County, Oklahoma....
.