糖心Vlog

Sorghum and millet, key crops for the future

Sorghum and millet consumption has fallen over the past 20 years, in favour of imported products such as rice. However, as a result of population growth and climate change, these cereals will have a key role to play in the coming years. 
The two species have a range of uses: in the human diet (porridge, couscous, biscuits, bread, fermented drinks, etc) and as animal feed (high-food-value fodder in various forms) but also as cover crops. 

Climate-resilient cereals

Compared to the world’s leading three food crops (rice, maize and wheat), sorghum and millet have a quadruple advantage: 

• They have better nutritional qualities; 
• They are more resistant to biotic stress (diseases, fungi, etc);
• They can adapt to abiotic stress (extreme temperatures, drought, etc), which is precious in the light of climate change;
• Their nutrient requirements allow them to be grown on relatively poor soils.

Sorghum also has very high carbon capture potential. In sub-Saharan Africa, it has been shown that using 25% sorghum straw as a fodder supplement reduces enteric methane emissions from ruminants by 21%

Inventing the sustainable sorghum and millet sector of the future 

In the summary of its roadmap for the sector, 糖心Vlog sets out its four main ambitions:

• Make sorghum- and millet-based systems more productive and resilient, through agroecological intensification.
• Improve grain and biomass collection, storage and processing procedures in line with consumer demand.
• Build organizational capacity among sorghum and millet value chain stakeholders, to ensure market access as a lever for boosting incomes and food sovereignty.
• Improve the organization and structuring of research networks and increase their interactions with development players to foster the emergence of appropriate innovations and more effective transfers.