So what is the crop sorghum?
- Sorghum, a genus of numerous species of grasses (Order: Poales, Family: Poaceae), is one of the top five cereal crops in the world (following wheat, oats, corn, barley) that are cultivated in the warmer climates of the world. When harvesting, the farmers cut down the entire plant not just the grain itself, because sorghum is used in many different ways: the plant, with the seeds removed, are crushed to produce sorghum syrup which are then packaged for sale; also, the remaining part of the plant after taking out the syrup, are then dried and crushed once again to feed the cattle. The seed, are later transferred to factories to be treated in two different ways: to be used in cooking for human, or to be turned into fodder products. Especially when sorghum is treated to be cooked for humans, it is well known for its absorbance of flavour (it absorbs flavors very well, enabling sorghum to be cooked in any ways such as pasta, cereal, bread, cookies, etc.), or it could be eaten plain.
Sorghum is also very high in nutrient containing-wise. It contains 43% protein, 48% total carbohydrate (48% fiber), 10% fat, 5% calcium, 43% iron, etc. (in 1 cup, 192g of sorghum). Not only it contains such large amount of nutrients within them, sorghum is also cheaper than corn, wheat, and some of the other crops; therefore it is commonly used in the developing countries in Africa and South America (eg: South Africa).
While sorghum is so widely used in Africa, the "Genetically Improved Sorghum" (sometimes referred as the "Super sorghum") is also getting started to be contributed to the developing countries by charities. The reason, is because it needs the exact same growing conditions and supplies; however, is much more nutricious. Not only it has 48% more protein than the normal sorghum, it also contains 24.3% more Iron, Zinc, and 8% more fat, etc. The "Super sorghum," was considered to be one of the "Scientific achievement of the first magnitude" for its dramatic improvements with same requirements.
